Operation: Sweet & Sour
by Thing2BK
Summary: Matthew is the soft-spoken one, never attracting attention to himself. Lovino is a ball of bitter attitude. And one yaoi fan-club, led by their fearsome president is going to bring the two together, whether they realize it or not.
1. The YFA

Hetalia: International Academy, is a high school located in the northern areas of Switzerland, with an extensive campus to both teach and house the students, and a reputation exceeding all other Academies of its kind. Its students were all either from rich and powerful families, or were extremely talented in their field. A diploma from that school is the skeleton key to any University in the world, so getting in is pretty much the greatest thing to happen to any hopeful.

Once classes and part-time job shifts were over, students found themselves with a lot of time on their hands. The athletic kids had sports to fill in those gaps, and the artistic ones had musical theatre, and bi-annual school concerts to work for. But that left quite a few without anything to do. So it became possible for students to create their own clubs. There was even an entire wing of the art's building sanctioned just for the individual clubrooms, which, at times, held between five (the minimum number of members) and thirty students each. Teachers never bothered to wonder what went on in those rooms, and the members kept everything clean, so the janitors didn't know either.

And sometimes, maybe it was better off being kept a secret.

"Alright! I'm calling this week's meeting of the YFA to immediate order!" The other members of the 'Yaoi Fan's Alliance' (YFA for short) looked up with a start to see their president, Elizaveta Héderváry, standing at the row of desks used as their front table, along with her vice presidents, Kiku Honda, a senior, and Mei Chen, who was still only in grade ten.

When the club had been founded, it had just been a scattered collection of yaoi fangirls, who just wanted to chat, swap stories, and make new friends. Only three years later, Elizaveta had joined near the end of freshman year, and done a complete overhaul of the club, turning it from a weekly gathering place, to a practical yaoi army that was to be feared by all straight men of Hetalia, and several of the surrounding areas.

She had a nose for the stuff. A natural talent for finding anyone she could use to fulfill her nose-bleed-inducing fantasies, and making damn well sure they played their part to the fullest. And none of her work ever went without being recorded for future 'references'.

"Welcome back everyone. I hope you had a good summer break." She called to the assembled students. (All female save for Kiku, her most trusted supplier when the live goods couldn't be attained.) "I have good news for you all."

"A new target?" One of the younger members asked tentatively. Many of the members were still unsure of whether or not they enjoyed actually matchmaking, though not one of them ever complained about the outcome.

"Yes." Elizaveta was brimming with excitement. She was holding up a pair of candid photos for all to see. She was always informed on every single student in the school, and had pictures of all of them, and kept tabs on all their hobbies, and friends. Almost everyone could recognize the first boy, Lovino Vargas, famous for being the most short-tempered teenager ever to have walked the halls of the academy. The picture was of him and his twin brother, Feliciano, who was waving cheerfully at the camera while Lovino himself was only looking mildly surprised. A much nicer change to his normal scowl. The second photo, a blond sleeping on his desk…

"Is that Alfred Jones?"

The Hungarian rolled her eyes at that. "Of _course_ not. He's so stubbornly devoted to Natalya; even I couldn't do anything to change that. No this is his younger brother, Matthew."

Even Mei blinked in surprise at that. "So, let me get this straight Lizzie. You want us to get Lovino Vargas, the loudest, most irritable guy in the entire school, together with Matthew Williams, the sweetest guy on the face of the Earth next to Feliciano?"

"Yep!" She replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "This'll be a challenge, I'll admit, but the payoff will be so amazing that none of you can even imagine just how beautiful these two will be together."

"I'm sorry." A tall blonde murmured, getting to her feet. "But there's no way I'm getting involved in something that could get us all killed by the Italian mafia."

"Besides," another member added, also standing, "Lovino might be infamous for turning down girls, but that doesn't mean he's gay. And if he is, I doubt he'd want us to drag him out of the closet."

"He'd be in an eternally foul mood. Even worse than normal."

"It'd be too cruel to Matt. I heard he's gotten his heart broken too many times by guys like Lovino."

"Come on girls!" Elizaveta pleaded. "I've never failed you yet, why should this time be any different?"

"Because you've never had a plan involving a potentially murderous person!"

"And before, the two you pick have already been friends. These two don't even know each other."

"We've put up with a lot of your insane ideas, but this beats them all."

"Oh come on!" Kiku shouted in a sudden burst of passion. "Who was it who got the stubbornly emotionless Freyr to admit that he liked Sadiq at the Christmas party, even before she was a member of this alliance? Who took our wildest fantasies of Berwald and Mathias and made them a reality? Who is it that has never failed to produce a perfect pairing every time she tries? If you have no faith in Elizaveta Héderváry, then you may as well not even be in this room!"

"Kiku, you don't have to…"

"No! I do have to! Because I know you've never been wrong before, and no one but you can bring these two together, I'm sure of it."

"Great speech and all, but we still value our lives. Good luck though." And with those final words, the rest of the YFA departed, leaving the three behind.

"Don't worry Liz, we can do it alone!" Mei declared. "You've got the abilities, and we've got the connections. We can make this happen."

"You're right…" Elizaveta murmured, then again, a bit louder and more confident. "You're right! Who needs those wannabes who disappear at the first sign of danger? For we are true warriors of love! Our only shields, a box of tissue, and our weapons, cameras of every variety!"

She stood triumphantly in a Captain Morgan pose, one foot planted firmly on the desk before her, not caring that the school uniform was in fact, a dress, and held a fist in front of her face. "Then the three of us will go forth into battle, and we will not surrender! I now officially commence the new YFA pairing task: Operation Sweet & Sour!"

She couldn't help but feel just a little bit proud as the other two began quietly applauding her announcement.

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"S-so, I guess I was just wondering if… m-maybe sometime we could… go out? M-maybe see a movie or-"

"No."

A few onlookers winced at the instant reply, and watched as the small brunette somehow seemed to shrink even more. "O-oh, I see. Maybe we could-"

"Quit wasting my time, I said no."

Without another word, the girl ducked her head, and scurried off; leaving Lovino to scoff, and continue on his way, with his twin brother following close behind.

"Ve~ Lovi, that makes twelve rejections this month. You could try being a bit nicer about it…"

"Shut up! They do nothing but pester me, why should I be nice?"

"Does this have anything to do with you being…?" He stopped as his brother gripped his collar tightly.

"How many times have I told you not to talk about that in public?" He hissed, glaring suddenly at the freshman walking in the other direction, sending the poor boy scurrying away. "The only reason I told you was because I was drunk, so don't think I want anyone else to know about it, okay?"

"R-right, sorry _fratello_. But there's no need to take it out on me." The younger Italian whimpered, using his amazing puppy-eyes attack that even his raging brother couldn't be angry at for long.

"I'm… sorry Feliciano. Just… keep it down, alright?" No matter how many times he'd said them, words of apology still came out forced, and with a hint of irritation. He liked to call it the sound of his pride dying.

"Got it!" They continued to walk in silence after that, tuning out the senseless babble of the others as they went. Were it not for Feliciano's constant smile, the two would look fairly intimidating. The grandsons of a famous ex-Italian mafia boss, who still had more connections than a spider's web, messing with them was pretty much the same as signing your own death warrant, and everyone knew it.

That didn't stop girls from constantly asking Lovino out. Wasn't it supposed to go the other way around? Nor did it stop people from adoring Feliciano. He was among the most popular guys in the entire place, simply because he was so adorable, and easy to get along with as long as you didn't actually expect him to do anything productive except make pasta.

"You have your music class next, right?" Feliciano asked, trying to change the subject quickly. He hated it when Lovino held onto some kind of anger for too long, even if he was being quiet about it.

"Yeah. And that damn Edelstein is going to do nothing but show off for the teacher for the full hour. So what if he can play any instrument on the planet? He's a pain in the ass!"

"Well he _is _a senior." Some of the seniors ended up acting as teacher's assistants for the younger grades during their spares. It looked really good on a University application, and you could get community service hours for it if you were short a few. "And he's got talent, you can't deny it."

"I don't care if he's talented enough to beat Mozart! The guy's an arrogant prick!"

"Just don't pick another fight with him. You get in trouble enough as it is."

"Yeah, yeah." The pair stopped outside the double-doors of the music room, and Lovino stopped, letting his brother continue to the stairs. "See you after class."

"Okay!" Feliciano waved quickly, and hurried down to the first floor where the art rooms were. He was almost to the door, when a slim hand grabbed his wrist.

"Hey Feli~! Could you come with me for a moment?" Elizaveta asked sweetly.

"S-sorry Miss Héderváry, but I'll be late for class if I don't get there soon. You should too or…" He stopped when the brunette's smile widened.

"I'll treat you to a delicious pasta meal if you do, and forge a note saying you were helping out one of the teachers." She promised quickly, already leading him down a different hallway, which led to all of the clubrooms. "Now come on!"

It didn't take long for him to cave, and in an instant, he was following Elizaveta down the hallway at a sprint.

{}}{{}

"Feliciano Vargas, welcome to the YFA." Elizaveta cried, opening the door to her miniature empire. Kiku and Mei had been hard at work all morning covering up their posters for the sake of the boy's innocence, and were now perched on desks, waiting for the two.

"Wow~! It's really cool! But what are we doing here?"

"Well, Feli, we have a favour to ask you."

"Sure! What do you need?"

"You know about our club's activities, right?" Mei began hesitantly. There were quite a few students who were against what they did, and they'd prefer to continue without worrying about any bias the Italian may have.

"Sort of… Lovi calls it gross, but I think it's kind of sweet of you guys to do that for people."

"Well we may or may not totallydoitforourownfantasies, but okay! We'll go for sweet!" Liz cheered, taking one of Feliciano's hands in both of hers. "Now! We have a new couple in mind, but we're going to need your help."

"My help? But why? You guys usually do it on your own, don't you?"

"Well… our fellow members have bailed on us, and we need someone else to turn to. Besides, one of them is someone you know…"

Feli, the innocent darling that he is, blinked in confusion. "Who?"

Elizaveta and Mei shared an uncertain look, before turning back to the younger teen. "Your brother."

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Thanks for reading~!

And thus, we begin the long adventure I've wanted to write since August. Hope you enjoy the ride, and leave reviews, good or bad, okay?


	2. A Lucky Late

Feliciano stared at the three owlishly, mind working to process just what they'd told him. "Y-you know about _fratello_?"

Elizaveta scoffed lightly at that. "Just who do you think I am? I am the true master of love. Never let that bastard Bonnefoy tell you otherwise. Now what kind of master would I be if I wasn't absolutely positive of the sexual orientation of every student in the school?"

"We've known for a long time." Kiku explained shortly.

"I see." Though it was clear that he was still deeply confused as to how they could've figured it out. Lovino had only told him, and no one else had been in the room. They'd been in the apartment the two shared, and the walls were all as good as sound proof between apartments. You could hold a band practice in one and the neighbours would never know. The only way they could've found out was if someone had been in the ceiling or something. "But, do you really think you've found someone for Lovi? He's always been kind of picky."

"Trust me Feli. If this all works out, your brother's happiness is assured." Elizaveta promised.

"Then I'll help you!" He declared with a grin. "Just let me know what you need me to do!"

"Great! Here's your note." She handed him a pre-written note to his art teacher that he'd been helping Mrs. Karpusi put away some supplies. "Meet us here after school, and we'll explain everything then."

With one last reassuring smile at the trio, Feliciano turned on his heel, and sped off towards his class. If he hurried, he'd only be a few minutes late, and the teacher wouldn't mind. He was so caught up in wanting to get there quickly that he didn't notice the student already standing at the door, and the two collided.

"Ve… I'm sorry uh…" He looked over at the other boy, who was also on the floor, and searched for a name. He just couldn't place it.

"Matthew." The blond offered quietly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes but I should be asking you that! So-uh… are you okay?"

Matthew laughed a bit at that and nodded. "I'm fine." He stood up slowly, dusted off the back of his blazer, and offered Feliciano a hand to his feet. "It's better to be late with someone else than alone, right?"

"Right! Can I call you Mateo? I'm Feliciano, but you can call me Feli!"

"Uh… sure… thanks?"

"Vargas! Williams! You two have a halfway decent explanation as to why you're late?"

"Well you see I was just walking down the hall, minding my own business on my way to class, and Mrs. Karpusi just grabs my wrist out of nowhere and starts running, and I'm running, and wondering what I'd done 'cause she looked pretty mad, but then it turned out that she had some stuff to put away and she'd asked some students to help her out, and they agreed but then they didn't show up so she was really mad, and just dragged me over to help her out, so I did, and she gave me this note, see here, I got it I'm not lying! By the way, you look really pretty today!" Feliciano babbled just a bit too cheerfully, holding out the note.

"…Okay, just take your seats, and let me teach."

And that was the charm of Feliciano Vargas. His adorable brand of stupidity could let him get away with anything.

He and Matthew sat down at the last available desks, and started pulling out notebooks as the teacher sighed and continued with her lesson. "Ve~! Mateo? Could I see your sketchbook?"

"Huh? Oh! S-sure."

"Here! You can look at mine too!" He set a well-worn green sketchbook on the desk, while Matthew was digging through his messenger bag for his own. What emerged was almost a mirror image of Feliciano's book, only red. Same brand, same dog-eared corner, and the same tearing along the rings. The two looked at the similarities, before bursting out laughing.

Mrs. Hassan raised her eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Just like her son, she never spoke unless she really needed to.

While the outsides of their books were very similar, their insides were very different. Feliciano's was filled with still-life drawings clearly drawn with a talented hand, and a childish imagination, Matthew's were almost all people. Students in classes from different angles, Alfred in various phases of hyperness. "You're really good! Better than me!"

"R-really? I was just about to say the same to you."

"No way! Anyone can draw like I do, but you've taken the time in class to notice all this stuff about people! It's really…" He was going to say 'amazing' but before he could, the rest of the class stood, and started walking over to their actual worktables.

"Looks like we're starting." Matthew murmured, also getting to his feet. "Thanks for letting me look through this."

"Same to you! You want to work together on today's project too? Well, not together 'cause we have to work alone, but beside each other so we can talk?"

"Okay. I got what you meant." They picked up their books, and migrated along with the rest of the class to the tables filled with objects for the still-life practice. Still being so early in the year, they were just reviewing from grade nine.

Matthew and Feliciano sat themselves down at a table with an intricate candlestick, a folded napkin with a checker pattern, and a glass jar with flowers. Within a few minutes, the Italian was back to chatting away, like the teen beside him was his best friend in the whole world. Matthew would just nod, and hum in agreement to whatever he said. He was just a bit more concentrated on his work. There was one line that just wasn't coming out right, no matter how hard he tried.

The chatter of the class steadily muted into the background as he slipped into what Alfred called 'the zone'. The point at which he would disconnect from the rest of the world, and become so completely enveloped in what he was doing that he just disappeared. (At least, that's how his brother put it. He really doubted that he actually disappeared).

If he had glanced to his left, where Feliciano was sitting, he would've seen that the Italian was in the same level of concentration. An odd look for the usually chipper one.

They both looked up with a start as the bell rang. Most of their classmates had already gotten packed up a few minutes early to avoid the hassle, which just left the last two hurrying to get ready.

"Time sure flies, eh?"

"Yep! Oh I'd better hurry! _Fratello_ will be waiting for me!"

"You have your next class together?" Matthew wondered. He knew that the Italian's brother, Lovino was in his science class, but he couldn't remember hearing Feliciano's name.

"No, but he says I shouldn't be trusted walking through the school alone. I'd get lost, or distracted by something and forget to go to class." He thought about how easily Elizaveta had torn him from his objective… she hadn't even given him pasta like she'd promised. "He's right."

Before Matthew could reply, they'd opened the door, and sure enough, Lovino was standing on the other side. "You're late Feliciano."

"Sorry Lovi!" The younger twin quickly started, ignoring Lovino's snapped 'don't call me Lovi!' "We both got really absorbed in our drawing… oh! This is Mateo! He's a really good artist, but we bumped into each other in front of the class, and that's how we started talking, and he's really nice!"

"Great. Another airhead." He muttered. "Anyone ever told you that you look like a female version of that _asino_, Jones?"

"Frequently." Matthew deadpanned in reply. "Nice to meet you too."

"_Fratello_ that's mean! You don't just call boys girls, it's tactless, yet rude!"

"Is it my fault he grows his hair out like that damned Bonnefoy? No! So quit harping on me for pointing it out!"

"But Ludwig tells me not to _say_ stuff like that! You just think it, you don't say it!"

"You think I give a shit what that potato-chomping _bastardo_ says? And didn't I tell you not to hang around him anymore?"

"But he's nice, and lets me make pasta for him, and doesn't get mad at me when I nap in class… at least, not anymore."

"…Come on. Let's get you to class before you're late." Lovino sighed in defeat.

"Again."

"Huh?"

"Before I'm late again."

"What, did a stray _puppy_ wander into the school somehow and beg you to feed it?"

"No! I just… got distracted by all the people, that's all."

Lovino rolled his eyes, and grabbed his twin's wrist. "Come on. I'll _walk_ you to your next class. How you got accepted into this school is beyond me. Sometimes I forget you're even my age."

"Ve! It was nice meeting you Mateo!"

"Yeah, you too!"

The elder remained silent until Feliciano elbowed his side, and he blinked in surprise before rolling his eyes yet again, and calling, "Yeah, see you around."

"Bye." Matthew paused to clip his messenger bag shut, before re-shouldering it, and heading over to one of the exits so that he could get over to the science building.

Upon passing one of the many clocks posted periodically along the hallways, he let out a heavy sigh.

He was going to be late for his next class too.

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Thanks for reading~!

And thank you all so much for the reviews and alerts and faves. They mean a lot :)

See you next week!


	3. Oh Brother

One of the bonuses of being late for Matthew was that it meant he'd probably meet up with Alfred in the hallway. As much as his older brother annoyed him, he did usually have a really cool story to tell, and today was no different. So after getting a late slip, he contented himself with walking slowly as Al went on about his buddy Kiku, and some giant robots, and the Ghost Busters.

"So Mattie, how come you were hanging out with those mafia guys? I saw you with them on my way here, but I didn't think you were friends with them." Alfred asked, quickly changing the subject as his story ended.

Matthew decided to ignore the almost accusing tone in his brother's voice as he walked with him down to the science building where they both had classes next. "Feliciano's in my art class, and we're working together on a project. We just bumped into his brother by chance."

"Okay, but just promise not to get yourself a scuba trip without a snorkel. I don't know what I'd do if my little bro got hurt."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry Al, I'm sure I won't do anything to offend them."

Matthew suddenly became aware of the fact that Alfred was no longer walking beside him, and backtracked a few paces to where he stood, staring at someone by the stairwell. "What's up?"

"Y'see her?"

He followed the sky-blue gaze over to where a thin brunette was talking with some tall Arabic-looking student, both likely on spare judging from the lack of books in their arms. "Héderváry? What about her?"

"Dude, she's gorgeous! Plus, there's something really hot about a chick with that kind of power."

"What's your point?"

"If she asked… I'd do her." He replied very matter-of-factly. "Her and Edelstein."

"I so didn't wanna hear that!" Matthew groaned, miming puking beside him. "If you want to play for both teams, go right ahead, but please don't tell _me_ about your fantasies! Besides, what if Natalya heard you? She'd kill you."

Alfred just grinned smugly. "I'll have you know that she's very okay with my fantasies, thank you very much. She even offered to invite her brother along a few times, but he didn't show."

Matthew opened his mouth to answer that Ivan wouldn't come near Alfred with a hundred-foot pole unless there was a knife attached to the end, when Elizaveta turned from her conversation, and started walking in their direction, her tall boots clicking sharply against the tiles. When her eyes locked on Matthew, she smiled, and waved happily as she passed them. "Hey Matt!"

He returned the wave, slightly (very) confused, and then winced as all 200 and some-odd pounds of Alfred tackled him from behind. "How the hell do you know her?"

"I-I don't really!"

"Oh yeah? Then how come she's waving at you in the halls like you're her best friend?"

"W-well, she is in charge of that YFA thing. Maybe she found out about me, and is looking for some… y'know."

Alfred's eyes lit up, and he wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders. "That's gotta be it. So I definitely approve of this friendship."

"Why?"

"Because you seriously need to get _laid_ broski. And if anyone can make it happen, it's her."

"You're disgusting."

"And you're in denial!" He called back cheerfully, sprinting over to his next class before Matthew could even start running after him.

The Canadian scowled, but really didn't feel like bursting into the other class, and just continued quietly over to his grade ten science room, and took his usual seat at the back. The senseless babble of the other students steadily grew in volume as more people entered the room late, sitting on desks rather than at them until the teacher would walk into the room (late as usual). Everything felt as normal as always in the classroom.

"Hi Matthew!"

Until right at that moment. He glanced up in surprise to see who called him, and found Mei Chen standing over his desk. "Hi?" He asked hesitantly. He'd had most of his classes with the brunette since the previous year, but he couldn't actually remember exchanging any words with her. First Héderváry, and now her?

"I was wondering if you wanted to trade seats for today, if it's not too much trouble." She leaned closer to whisper. "I didn't get much sleep last night, and I need a nap before vocals class. I can't be tired for that."

Violet eyes flicked across her face quickly. She didn't _look_ tired, but then again, some people were really good at hiding it. "Okay."

"Thanks loads! I sit over there, in the middle, next to Lovino, okay?"

With a nod, Matthew gathered up his books, and stood again, glancing around for the older Italian twin. He found him alone at a pair of desks near the middle, just as Mei had said, pulling out his textbook in preparation for all the work they were likely to get.

"We meet again." He said smoothly, sliding into the empty seat.

Lovino looked up in faint surprise before acknowledging who was beside him. "Oh. It's you again."

"Yep! Mei's tired, so she and I switched seats today."

"…Who?"

Matthew stared at him incredulously. "Mei. You know, Mei Chen? The girl who sits beside you?"

But Lovino just kept on shaking his head. "Nobody sits beside me _stupido_. Not since the beginning of the semester."

He turned around to look for Mei, who was in his seat, napping. "But she said…"

"Looks like she lied, welcome to reality."

He was still trying to figure out what Mei would have to gain by sending him to sit with Lovino when the teacher came in, apologized for being late, and started the lesson. Had she been hoping that he'd get yelled at? But she'd always seemed like such a nice girl, not so cruel as to do something like that just for fun. It just wasn't normal.

Then again, nothing about today seemed normal. To him, normal was going about his life unnoticed, talking to his brother, and maybe Willem and Gilbert during lunch. Now the number of interactions he'd had was getting well beyond one hand in how he could count them, and it didn't sit well.

It really didn't help that Lovino – who was used to having two desks to himself – was now elbowing his binder rather awkwardly, and making him regret ever being a nice person.

"I'm really sorry about all of this. Do you want me to move?" He whispered finally, after receiving a rather painful jab on his shoulder from the Italian's large arm movements as he wrote.

"Don't bother. You're here now, and you'd just be disrupting the class."

He had a point. So with a quiet sigh, Matthew returned to copying the note that their teacher was writing on the blackboard. As usual, it didn't make sense to him, and wouldn't until the actual lesson started. They were all just blindly copying whatever was written. He could write almost anything, and they'd just copy it without question.

The seconds ticked by, seeming to slow down every time. It was only second period. But he could tell that it was going to be a very long day.

{}}{{}

When the final bell rang, Feliciano headed down to the club wing like the diligent little promise-keeper he was, and knocked on the door marked 'YFA' on a little brass plaque.

"Come on in Feli!"

At the sound of Elizaveta's voice, he turned the handle, and swung the door open to face the YFA once again.

"Welcome back!" Mei chirped, clipping another photo onto the large whiteboard at the front of the room. "We were just waiting for you."

But Feliciano's eyes were locked on the board, blinking in surprise. "Is that who you think will work well with _Fratello_?"

"Yeah! What do you think?"

He frowned, and stared at the candid photos of his twin, and Matthew from different angles, turning his head every which way. He was vaguely aware of Elizaveta waiting earnestly for his reply, as if she wouldn't go on without his approval.

"Hmm… I think it would be nice!"

"Great to know you agree! Okay, now come over here, and I'll tell you the plan I was working on before."

"Are you going to get Mateo in on it too?"

Elizaveta shook her head. "No, that wouldn't work well at all. It did for Sadiq, because he already liked Freyr so… wait, do you know Matthew?"

"Well, he's in my art class…"

"Yeah, but you don't talk… when did this start?"

"Today." He replied with a shrug. "I was late to class, and we bumped into each other."

"Oh. Well then, I suppose that's a bonus for us. Good job Feli."

"Thanks! So what's the plan?"

The three members happily noted how eager he sounded to help out. They'd all voiced their own concerns about bringing in Feliciano, most about him being unable to keep a secret. But luck had contented to smile on them, and he seemed ready to dive in full-force.

"Well, we want you to get Matthew and your brother closer. Try and get them to be friends, y'know?"

"Sure. I think I can do that!"

"I know you can, Feli!"

As he opened his mouth to respond, his cellphone began to ring from his bag, and he turned to dig it out. "_Pronto_!"

"_Where the fuck are you_?_ You'd better not have gotten into a stranger's car again_!" Lovino yelled from the other end of the phone. The others couldn't understand a word he screamed, but they could tell he was pissed, but that wasn't anything new.

"_That was an accident Lovino, and besides, nothing bad happened. Anyway, I'm with Elizaveta, and-_"

"_First those German assholes, now _her?_ Get back home before she rubs off on you_!"

"…_Okay Lovi_._ Bye bye_." He hung up, and smiled sheepishly at the others. "Sorry. That was _Fratello_, and he wants me to go home now."

"It's fine, really. You know all you need to. I would've told you the plan earlier, but you didn't know Matt then, so I thought it would take more time and… well, that's not the point. You know what to do, and we're really grateful!"

"No problem! As long as _Fratello's_ happy in the end."

"I hope so Feli. I really do. But he can't know what we're doing, okay?"

"Okay! I'll keep quiet!"

When he was gone, the last remaining YFA members shared looks that all said the same thing.

_Feli? Quiet? As if._

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Thanks for reading~!

And… now, the plot kicks off! Let the official ride begin!

Quick note, if there's a lot of dialogue in italics, it's probably in another language (or in a text.) It'll usually be clear which it is though.

Finally, if you haven't noticed earlier, there's a poll about Matthew's Halloween costume up on my profile which I'd like your input for because I'm not sure which he should go as.


	4. A Private Concert

"Hey Mattie! Me and Artie are heading into town for dinner tonight, you wanna come?"

Matthew jumped in surprise, sending a faint pencil line across the still life he'd been tirelessly working on, and turned to frown at his brother, who shrank back a little, and murmured a quick 'sorry'. "Okay. Is football practice done already?"

"Yep! Coach is really impressed with how we've been working. He says we'll be ready to take on those chumps at Fenston Academy pretty soon."

"Good for you. Lemmie just get my stuff together here, and I'll be out to the car in a minute."

"S'okay. Come on, let the hero carry your stuff!"

He frowned again at how eagerly his brother was trying to be nice. "What did you break?" He asked slowly.

"Nothing, I swear! Can't I just be nice to my favourite little bro?"

"I'm your only little brother."

"Exactly! I need to treasure you."

"Seriously Al. What did you do?"

"…I might've told the guys that you still sleep with a teddy bear…"

"You did what?"

"Come on it was an accident! I'm really sorry, but come on, you love me right? Dinner's on me, promise! I'll even drive."

He rolled his eyes, and sighed. "Okay. It's okay. Just don't do anything stupid like that anymore."

"Promise!" He cheered, running out towards the car, which was one of the few in the parking lot. Why Alfred insisted on driving when it was only a five-minute walk from the apartments -seeing as they were still on campus- would forever remain a mystery to the Canadian.

As he climbed into the car beside his brother, he checked his bag, and realized something was missing. "Hang on Al, I forgot my math notebook. I'll be right back."

"Ok…" Alfred's attention wavered and vanished as his phone began to cheerfully sing the Superman theme. "Hey Natalya! Yeah, sure, I can talk!" He covered the mouthpiece with the hand that held the phone, and waved his brother away with the other, mouthing, "Take your time," as he did so.

Rolling his eyes in amusement, Matthew nodded, and shut the side door, turning to jog back to the school. Knowing his brother, he'd be on the phone with Natalya for half an hour at least, so he'd have to find some other way to pass the time until then lest he incur his wrath.

Matthew's locker was in the arts building, in the eastern end of the campus, which was usually the only one even slightly active at this time of night. Musical theatre was in full swing of rehearsal by October, so the entire basement was filled with activity. The upper levels were still lit from people running around the building on errands, but at the moment, he was alone.

The still-brightly lit hallways echoed his soft footsteps as the blond made his way up to his locker. One of the janitors walked by while he was looking for his book, but silently continued, just like they normally did. Once he was ready to go, he took the longer way around to buy his brother a few more minutes on the phone. It was an extensive building anyway, so he should've had plenty of time.

The hallways always seemed kind of lonely after all of the meetings were over for the night. Even though they kept the lights on for quite some time, it was always a surprise to see them empty. At least, that's what Matthew had always thought. He doubted anyone else really cared enough to notice things like that about the school.

That was when he heard it. A soft melody floating through the halls from the third floor music room. It was a violin, from what he could tell. Curious, Matthew followed the sound to the door, which was slightly ajar, and peered inside.

Lovino stood on the small riser in the middle of the room, playing on the bright, well-polished instrument with his eyes closed. There wasn't a single other person in the room except for himself, but Feliciano's art bag was sitting on a nearby chair. Carefully, so as not to get the Italian's attention, he slipped into the room, and sat on the piano bench by the door to listen.

What came as a surprise to him wasn't the fact that Lovino was playing beautifully –everyone in the school knew that, and he was almost always featured in the concerts as a soloist alongside Roderich, even though they didn't get along – no what surprised him was the calm expression on his face. Normally he looked either annoyed or furious, or some combination of the two. At the moment, he looked completely at ease, almost happy. Matthew found himself suddenly unable to tear his gaze away from the violinist.

Just as the piece seemed to be about to end, Lovino opened his eyes slowly, only to lose his grip on the bow in surprise at seeing Matthew, sending it clattering to the floor. "_Merda_! When the hell did you get here?"

The Canadian leapt to his feet, holding his hands up in surrender. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to intrude! It's just that I was getting my math book, and I heard you playing and…"

"It's alright." Lovino sighed, bending over to pick up his bow. "But you didn't have to sneak around like a criminal, idiot."

"Sorry." He murmured again. "But you do play well."

The Italian turned away, face appearing to be a bit red, though Matthew figured he could attribute it to the change of light. "_Grazie_."

"Why don't you ever look happy when you perform during the concerts?" He inquired softly.

"Obviously because I'm on stage with that prick Edelstein. Anyone would be in a foul mood when forced through that."

"I see, of course."

"I'm back _Fratello_! Sorry that took so long, Mr. Johnstone was a bit more talkative than usual."

Lovino stared incredulously at his brother, not bothering to point out the fact that Mr. Johnstone never spoke a word outside of his lessons, and it was Feliciano who was the chatty one. "Okay, let me pack up, and we'll get home."

As the older twin knelt to put away his violin, Feliciano's eye caught the blond, who was already attempting to sneak out unnoticed. "Ve~! Mateo! I didn't see you there! Did Lovi play for you? That's so nice of you _Fratello_!"

"Um… not really, I just…"

"Come on Feliciano, let's go." Lovino muttered. "And don't call me Lovi."

"Sorry!" He said with a pout, though he didn't really sound terribly sorry. "See you on Monday Mateo!"

"Sure, bye." He hesitated for only an instant before hurrying from the room. Alfred was probably ready to go by now.

{}}{{}

Elizaveta stood outside of the twins' dorm building when they arrived, looking very annoyed. "What are you here for, you perverted bitch?" Lovino growled, re-shouldering his violin case.

"Hello to you too." The brunette snapped back without missing a beat. "Unfortunately, I didn't come here for your most charming company, I'm here to see Feli. Alone."

"Fine, have fun." Lovino gave a dismissal wave, and hurried up the stairs to the main door. "Just don't lock yourself out again."

"I know _Fratello_!" He turned back to the Hungarian, who was looking at him with deep disappointment. "Wh-what did I do?"

"I got a phone call from Kiku just a little while ago Feli. I think you'd just love to hear what he told me."

He shrank back a little, already visibly trembling. "What did I do?" He asked again.

She held out her phone, which had a picture on it, looking like it had been taken from the ceiling of the music room. "Tell me what you see in this."

"Um… Lovi is practicing, and Mateo is peeking in through the door."

"Good. Now how about this one."

"Mateo is sitting down, and watching _Fratello_ play."

"Tell me, what sort of expression do you see on our darling Matthew's face?"

He paused to think about it. "Interest?"

"Close."

"Intrigue?"

"Warmer…"

"Wonder?"

"Adoration!" She shouted suddenly, and then turned around to make sure the older twin wasn't hanging around, and continued more quietly. "Already he's got a lot of respect for Lovino. We can use respect to our advantage. This is a great step, and what happened after was a massive leap until you walked in! Kiku told me that they were talking, and your brother, was actually blushing! Oh if only I'd been there to stop you!"

"_Fratello_ always blushes. He gets embarrassed really easily." Feliciano pointed out. "Antonio calls him a tomato because of it, remember?"

"Not after someone as seemingly insignificant to him as Matthew compliments him!" Elizaveta insisted. "We're close Feli! I can feel it! That moment they were together, and Lovi was embarrassed that he'd been caught was so cute! I just knew they'd work together! Now Feli." Suddenly she was very serious again. "I need you to keep an eye on them, and try to force them into more scenes like this." She held up her phone again for reference. "Invite him over while you know Lovi will be practicing, Plan to have a bunch of friends go out somewhere, and then have everyone but those two cancel! You can do it, I _know_ you can!"

"Elizaveta, I'd love to help with this, you know I would. But I'm not really friends with him. I can't just invite him over, I barely know him. It would be weird."

"Feli… nothing's too weird when it's you. Being overly friendly is kind of your thing."

"It's not _Fratello's_."

"Come on! Be his friend! We're all counting on you Feli!"

"But we know someone who's also a good friend of Mateo's, or were your file thingies lying?"

Her eyes clouded over, and she shook her head rapidly. "No way. I'm not calling _him_ for a favour like this."

"He's the only one who's a close friend of Mateo's, and ours."

"Don't make me call Gilbert!" She whined. "He'll just make fun of me again!"

"But he'll do it."

Elizaveta bit her lip, and sighed. "I know, I know… you know what? Fine. I'll call him. We need another member to meet the minimum by Friday as it is before they shut us down anyway. Okay. You go ahead Feli. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay!"

As the Italian scampered off to his apartment, Elizaveta turned her phone back to face her again. "I don't wanna call him…" She whimpered under her breath, but dialled the ever-familiar number anyway.

"_Hello! How can the awesomeness grace you this fine evening?"_

"Gilbert Beilschmidt. I have a favour to ask you…" Suddenly her whole mouth felt very dry, and the words had to be forced out. She could almost _see_ the damned albino's eyebrow lift in curiosity.

"_Oh really? The high and mighty Elizaveta, asking _me_ for help? Well of course, who _wouldn't_ want my help to make everything they do half as awesome as I am…?"_

"Gilbert, _kuss_! This is important!"

"_Important for me, or important for you? Clean that mouth of yours, by the way."_

"Important for Lovino Vargas and Matthew Williams."

There was a long pause before the albino replied. _"You have piqued my interest Lizzie. Talk to me."_

And she did.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

So…um, my birthday's in six days. Reviews would be… awesome… Prussia awesome.

Translations:

Merda – shit (Italian)  
>Grazie – Thank you (Italian)<br>Kuss – shut up (Hungarian)


	5. The Omnipotent Writer

I regret to inform you that because Gilbert Beilschmidt has deemed this chapter too unawesome for you all to read, it has been removed. It was too hurtful to his pride. I'll bet it was the pink dress that did it in.

"Say what?"

Yes, and all of those frills, and the singing of show-tunes. Even I have to admit, it _was _pretty embarrassing. I didn't even know you were familiar with _The Producers_.

"She's lying! I didn't do any of that stuff!"

I don't lie. I'm the storyteller. I'm omnipotent. Honestly, haven't you seen _Muppet Christmas Carol_?

"Oh yeah? Then why would I be in a dress Miss God-like Smarty-pants?"

Initiation into the YFA of course. There's no way Elizaveta would just ask you for help and not make sure there was blackmail just in case you decided to betray her or something."

"Alright! Damnit! Just let them read the chapter! Anything to make them believe that I didn't wear a dress!"

I like it when we can all get along, don't you?

"Screw. You."

Happy April Fool's Day everyone!


	6. The Trio Recruited

"Are you sure about this Elizaveta?"

The brunette nodded stiffly at Mei's question, but she didn't really look too sure of herself. The two girls, as well as Kiku and Feliciano, were waiting in the YFA clubroom for the arrival of Gilbert, who'd agreed to help them out, though not without indulging himself in a bit of laughter at the situation.

"We can always do this some other way if you don't want his help." Kiku offered, only for Elizaveta to shake her head.

"All the other girls quit the club entirely. We're down to three members Kiku. And we need five to continue functioning. Feli agreed to join, but that's still only four. I hate to admit it, but we _need_ Gilbert if we don't want to be shut down."

"Now _that's_ what I like to hear Lizzie!"

Elizaveta groaned as the door swung open to reveal Gilbert, who was grinning widely as he strolled into the room. "Pretty snazzy place you've dug out for yourself."

The Hungarian didn't reply, as she was a bit preoccupied staring in horror at the people standing behind Gilbert. "No way Gil. You didn't…"

"Oh but I did." He replied just a bit too happily. "Toni, Francis, you already know Lizzie, right?"

"But of course!" The Frenchman purred, reaching for Elizaveta's hand, which she snatched away in disgust. "However, I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting this _mademoiselle_." This he said while indicating Mei.

"Gilbert, this is important here. We can't have your buddy jumping all over everyone, or we're not going to get anything done."

Before Gilbert could come up with a good retort, Francis interrupted again. "For the sake of your honourable quest, I will restrain myself." He vowed, sweeping into a low bow. "You have my word."

"And I suppose that's all we're getting… Okay, so you're _all_ willing to join us and help?"

"_Sí_!" Antonio cheered with a grin. "When I heard that it was for _poco _Lovi, I knew there was no way I couldn't offer my assistance!"

"Oh that's right, you grew up with them, didn't you?"

"Uhuh! So, what's the plan?"

"Well, I was thinking that Gilbert should take Matthew out for dinner with the twins. See, he knows Gilbert really well, but not really Lovino, so this is really the only way to get them to know each other better."

"So, sort of like a double date?"

Elizaveta looked slightly embarrassed at what Gilbert was implying she'd implied. "No, just dinner with friends."

But the albino wasn't listening. Already, he'd slung an arm around Feliciano's shoulders with a lazy grin. "Did you hear that Feli? We're going on a little double date! One's just not enough for Lizzie, she needs more all-male lovin', you see what I'm getting at?"

"Gilbert Beilschmidt, you stop that right now!"

"I'm just letting the kid know what he's getting into."

"You're feeding him lies!"

"Oh really? Now, give me one good reason why I shouldn't believe that you're secretly trying to get me and Feli together like the obsessive pervert you are."

Elizaveta took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then screamed, "Because neither of you are gay you dumb shit!"

Her face was bright red, which only got worse as Gilbert started cackling at her expression. "Oh that's too good Lizzie! You- you really thought I was serious… seriously, are you sure you're the kid I grew up with?"

"Yes I'm sure, now are you going to help or not?"

"Don't worry about it! I've got this completely under control."

"Why does that make me worry even more?"

"Seriously Liz! I'll go over to Mattie and Al's apartment, ask Mattie if he wants to hang out with the twins and me. He says yes, we go out for dinner, I nudge him closer to Lovi, and try to get them alone, sound about right?"

"Yeah." She murmured, blinking quickly, surprised that he knew what she was talking about. "Yeah that sounds about right."

"Right! So, I'll see you tomorrow then Feli?"

"Okay!"

"You pick the restaurant."

"Ve! Thanks Gilbert!"

"No problem kiddo. We good now Lizzie? Or do you want Franny here to coach me?"

"Coaching probably wouldn't be a bad idea, but no, I'm sure you'll be fine. Mei, I want you and Antonio to follow them to the restaurant, okay?"

"Sure!"

"So should we call _our_ mission a date as well?" Antonio asked smoothly, grinning at the younger teen. When she started blushing, he just laughed brightly, and clapped her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I was just kidding around."

Elizaveta could already tell that this had been a bad idea. Gilbert and his buddies would never be able to take this seriously. 'I should've just asked Lily.' She thought sadly. 'She would've joined in a heartbeat. Too bad her brother has to be such an over-protective ass…'

They began to disperse, plans pretty much set. The trio had agreed to sign up, and keep the club running, and that was all that really needed to be said at that point. Elizaveta just wanted to get a bit of homework done before heading back to the dorm, and told them all to go ahead.

"Hey Lizzie."

She jumped at Gilbert's voice, surprised that he hadn't left yet. "Yeah?"

"I know I asked this over the phone last night, but are you really sure Lovino and Matt could ever possibly get together? I mean, in any logical universe, could they ever fall in love?"

"That's the beauty of love, Gilbert. Logic doesn't get a turn to play. There is only raw emotion."

"When you say it like that, it sounds like you think you could make _anyone_ fall in love." He mused, leaning up against the wall behind her as she scribbled on the worksheet.

"Well, maybe not _anyone_. I mean, there's always the upbringing someone's had to take into account. But I really do think that they'll end up together in the end Gil. There's just something unconditionally kind about Matthew that I think will balance out Lovino's attitude."

"Feliciano's also unconditionally kind. That didn't stop his brother from becoming a little sourpuss."

"No, Feli's unconditionally _loving_. There's a difference. Lovino became used to his brother's affections. He'd honestly be surprised, and maybe a bit confused, to have it coming from a near-stranger."

"But again, the way you say that makes it sound like you could pick any name out of a hat, and hook him up with Lovi."

"There's another factor."

He raised an eyebrow, even though Elizaveta couldn't see it, and continued, "and what might that be, oh wise and all-knowing Lizzie?"

"Matthew's got the patience of a saint. I don't think there's another person on the face of the Earth who could put up with his bitterness, and still love him at the end of the day."

"Hey, wait a minute! You're hooking poor Birdie up into an abusive relationship?"

"Birdie?"

"Shut up, it's a nickname. But don't dodge the question, are you, or aren't you?"

"Gilbert! For crying out loud would you stop twisting everything I say so that I sound like some horrible person?"

"I'm just letting you know that you should be clearer when you're laying out your logic. Don't want someone to get the wrong idea, you get me?"

"Fine, but you know that I wouldn't set anyone up in an abusive relationship. That's why I'm not trying to put him with you."

"…Say what?" Gilbert couldn't help it. His eye twitched once, and he was suddenly annoyed at the fact that the brunette in front of him wasn't facing him, and was silent. "Didn't you say something about me _not_ being gay about five minutes ago?"

"Did I? Hmm, I don't seem to recall…" He could just barely hear the smile in her voice, and wondered if he imagined it.

"Are you crazy? Is there no line you won't cross just to get a little guy-on-guy?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"So who would you try to get me with if there wasn't some other couple showing up on your radar?" Part of him knew that there was no other way to really talk to her then to hold her interest, and the other part was genuinely curious for her answer.

"Well, I did consider Lovino for you… there's also Arthur. Or maybe Ivan…"

"What was that you _just_ said about no abusive relationships? Seriously Liz, you know that Braginski's a total jackass! Plus, he always talks with that stupid accent, even though everyone knows that he was raised by his French Grandmother and the two accents sort of cancelled out!"

"Okay, okay. But in all seriousness, you know I'd never do something like that to you, right?"

He blinked in surprise, which thankfully, Elizaveta couldn't see, as her back was still turned. "Well I do _now_."

"Just checking. I don't want you to screw up because you're paranoid that my motives aren't what I've told you." Suddenly, she sat up straighter, and turned around to look at Gilbert quizzically. "Why are you braiding my hair?"

He looked down at his hands, which had indeed been absently braiding Elizaveta's hair for the past few minutes. "Because I'm braiding your hair… shut up." The last bit he added when he saw that his friend had been looking like she was about to start laughing.

"I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it!"

"What was I thinking?"

"I don't know! Something about me being a creep or something, which really isn't fair seeing as you're about ten times as creepy as I am!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Hell yeah!"

In an instant, Elizaveta was up on her feet again, glaring at Gilbert, who was glaring right back at her. "Why do you have to be such an ass all the time?"

"Why don't we take this outside?"

"No way. We settle this right now."

Never a civil conversation, never able to not be at each other's throats. It was like they were six years old again, fighting in the backyard until somebody started crying.

The weird part was, this was actually how they got work done. Somewhere along the lines, they'd both realized that they work better as a team when arguing.

And somewhere in the back of Elizaveta's mind, she hoped that it would be the same this time, in getting her new plan off the ground.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

I'm not sorry about last week's chapter. It was April Fool's day; I had to have my fun.

Happy Easter!


	7. The Newspaper Trick Never Works

Matthew and Alfred had just sat down in the living room for a Batman the Animated Series marathon, when a familiar, obnoxious rhythm started being tapped out on the front door. Alfred didn't leap to answer it like he normally would, and just swung his head around to look at his brother, face blank. "He's _your_ friend, dude."

Matthew rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. "Yeah, yeah." He swung the door open, and glared at the teen on the other side. "What do you want Gilbert? It's too late for this!"

The albino just grinned and slung an arm lazily across the Canadian's shoulders. "It's never too late for a little awesome in your life! 'Sides, I'm just here to see if you want to have dinner with me and the Vargas twins tomorrow."

"Alfred-dinner, or dinner-dinner?" Alfred-dinner comprised of either a trip to McDonald's or Burger King, followed by dessert at DQ, while dinner-dinner meant an actual restaurant.

"Dinner-dinner." Gilbert replied, shooting Alfred a smug grin from under Matthew's arm, which was propping the blond up against the doorframe. "Lovi just wants some more sane people around to help him deal with Feli's antics."

"Oh so Feliciano's the one with antics now?"

"Of course! I've moved on to shenanigans." He declared with a grin.

"Your parents must be so proud of you."

"That's what they tell me. So you in?"

Despite, or maybe because of the fact that he could almost feel his brother shaking his head vigorously behind him, Matthew grinned, and nodded. "Sounds fun. What time?"

Gilbert hemmed and hawed for a moment before answering, "let's call it six-thirty. I'll be driving us all into town, and Feli says he found this nifty little restaurant that makes awesome pasta."

"Any pasta's awesome to him, as long as they don't serve it out of a box."

"Jeez Matt, you've known the kid for what? Two weeks now? And you can already read him like a book."

"To be fair, he doesn't try to make it that difficult to figure him out."

"Okay, okay. Point there. I'll see you tomorrow kid. Enjoy your cartoons!"

"Batman is way too cool to be considered a cartoon! It's even more awesome than you think you are!" Alfred nearly shrieked from the living room. The plastic remote was already beginning to crack in his hand when Matthew hurried to calm him down.

"Relax Al, nothing is as awesome as Gilbert _thinks_ he is, remember?"

"But you agree that it's way better than he really is, right?"

"Sure, okay. Just calm down Al, and we'll watch the show. I'll see you tomorrow Gil!"

"Have fun!"

When Gilbert had left, and Matthew was sitting on the couch again, Alfred started the show, and then swung his head around to face his brother. "So… am I invited to this dinner shindig too?"

"No."

"But-"

"Hell no."

"You're a douche bro."

"Love you too."

{}}{{}

Matthew really hoped he wasn't the only one who saw how awkward this evening could very well turn out to be. He _really_ hoped so. There was on other way of looking at it, he was the odd-one-out here. Sure he knew Gilbert, but as for the twins, he barely remembered which one was which sometimes, even though they were quite different. And yet, Gilbert knew both reasonably well. It could very quickly devolve into a three-sided conversation, with Matthew left out.

Not that he wasn't used to it, he just didn't like admitting that he knew it was bound to happen.

Little did he know that Gilbert actually hid a semblance of intelligence underneath the excessive arrogance he wore like cheap perfume. The older teen had it all planned out, with some assistance from Elizaveta.

Gilbert drove all of them into town, and followed Feliciano's hyper pointing and babbling of directions until they arrived in front of a small restaurant, nestled nicely between a mini-mall, and an empty building, which looked only recently vacated.

"You sure this is the place?"

"_Sí_! They have a really good menu."

"Well, okay then. Little back-alley Swiss-Italian restaurant it is then."

The restaurant was fairly empty, but the few people who were eating at other tables looked happy enough being there. And that was a good enough sign for them, so they took a booth near a window, and waited for the waiter to come take their orders.

"So, Feli, you're the only one who knows this place really well. What do you recommend?" Gilbert asked, flipping out his menu over-dramatically to peruse.

"Umm… The ravioli's really good! But... so it the spaghetti… and the lasagne, oh, and the Parmesan chicken! And… it's all really good!"

"Geez how many times have you eaten here to know that it's all that good?" Matthew asked with a chuckle. As it turns out, he didn't have to answer, as the waitress showed up, and lit up in a bright smile when she saw the Italian. "_Hey Feli! It's good to see you again!_"

"_You too Genevieve_!_ This is my brother, Lovi, and our friends Gilbert, and Mateo_!" He ignored his twin's muttered 'don't call me that, _idiota_!'

"_Nice to meet you_!_ Can I get you guys something to drink_?"

They all ordered light beers, and Genevieve nodded, and turned back to the kitchen. "I think she likes you Feli." Gilbert grinned.

"Think so? Well, she's really nice, but she's in University already…"

"Ooh! Chasing the older girls! 'Atta boy Feli!"

Feliciano blushed, and laughed as the German ruffled his hair. "Knock it off! Mateo, tell him to stop teasing me… Mateo?"

But Matthew was a little preoccupied watching something on the other side of the restaurant. "You guys see that?"

They turned to where the blond was pointing, to the other side of the restaurant, where two people sat, holding newspapers up over their faces. Every once in awhile, they'd reach over to the table between them, and pick up their coffee cups, take a sip, and put them down, almost entirely in sync.

"Well that _is_ kinda creepy." Lovino said, voice low as if they'd hear him. "You think they're spying on someone here?"

"And be _that _cliché about it? No way." Matthew replied, shoving the Italian lightly with a grin. "You're thinking too much about pasta to function normally."

"_Bastardo_. No one attempts that stupid cliché for no reason. They must be just stupid, that's all." He shoved back, a little harder.

"Ve… but they're just reading newspapers. What's so strange about that?"

Both Matthew and Lovino stopped, and stared at Feli, who was blinking in confusion at them. "Wow Feli. Just… wow."

As they attempted to explain the newspaper thing from all the movies, Gilbert pulled out his phone, and quickly texted Antonio, _WTF man? Newspapers? Really?_

{}}{{}

Antonio stared at the text sheepishly before pocketing his phone. "I think we've been caught."

"Gee, you _think_?" Mei muttered sarcastically. "I told you, 'we'll take a more secluded booth, and watch them from there.' As long as we didn't draw attention to ourselves, there would've been nothing to worry about! But nope. You just _had _to try a _newspaper_ trick of all things."

"Now, now. It's not like they know it's us."

The brunette sighed, and dared another peak around her pages. The four seemed to have lost interest in them, as the waitress returned with drinks. "Well, at least we know what _not _to do for next time."

"I still think that it was a good idea."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. Come on, there's a bench outside their window. Kiku scouted the place earlier and said there's a weak spot in the insulation, so we can hear them from there."

"Why don't you want to stay in here?"

"I'm tired of looking suspicious."

The Spaniard chuckled lightly at that. "_Señorita_. Everything about this hobby of yours _is_ suspicious."

"Oh hush. Just pay the bill."

"You don't want to go Dutch?" He asked innocently.

"Just pay it. _I'm_ going to the bench so I can keep tabs on where the relationship's heading. You know, like we're _supposed_ to be doing."

"You shouldn't call it a relationship just yet Mei. I believe that's what they call 'counting your chickens before they're hatched.'"

"You know what I mean, I just can't think of the word."

"Of course."

Mei refused to talk to Antonio for the rest of the night, out of sheer stubbornness.

{}}{{}

It was about the time when the food showed up, and Lovino could see the two outside the window practically staring at them as they talked, that the Italian figured everyone else with him must either be blind, or just plain stupid. He recognized Antonio as one of Gilbert's cronies, and the girl seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place a name to her face.

But more importantly, he was trying to give a name to the face of he blond right in front of him who was attempting to make polite conversation over their meals. He'd always been particularly bad with names, especially with girls. Maybe it was because of how feminine the other teen looked that his name had gone in one ear and out the other.

Gilbert and Feli had somehow gotten into their own isolated battle of wits, (or lack thereof) leaving just the two to talk until someone finally came to their rescue.

"So… you're an artist?" He asked, hoping he didn't sound as awkward as he felt.

"I like to think so. Hopefully it'll take me somewhere."

"But you've got your parents to fall back on, of course."

To Lovino's surprise, he shook his head. "They've pretty much decided that my brother and I have to figure out how to fend for ourselves, even if that means sucking up our pride and asking dad for a job in the company."

"That still sounds like they'd be helping you."

"I guess…How about you? Will you go into performing as a career?"

"Probably. It's all I'm really good at."

"I'm sure that isn't true."

"Well it is." He snapped curtly. He knew that the blond only meant well by being nice, but you know what they say about the road to Hell.

Genevieve returned shortly after with the bill, winking to Feli as she did so, and they split it according to Gilbert's shoddy math skills before heading back out to the car.

"Thanks for letting me tag along Gil. It was pretty fun." Matthew murmured when the car got too quiet.

"Pretty _awesome_, you mean."

"Sure, sure. Pretty awesome."

"You shouldn't encourage him, _stupido_. Then we'll never hear the end of it." Lovino snapped.

"_Fratello_, don't be mean."

"Shut up, would you?"

With a fluttering sigh, the Canadian slumped back into his seat, deciding that shutting up was indeed the best thing to do around someone like Lovino. Or most people, for that matter.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Also, Batman TAS is the greatest thing to ever be animated ever, and that person who uploaded all the episodes and the movies to torrent for me to then download will forever be my hero. That is all.


	8. A Clam Named Greg

Elizaveta was all smiles as she entered the clubroom the next afternoon. "We're so close, I can taste it!" She declared, for possibly the fifth time that day alone. "Those girls are going to regret abandoning this task! I'll refuse to share any pictures with anyone who wasn't a part of this!"

"I think half of the people who_ are _helping with this won't want pictures." Mei pointed out from where she was looking over their plans. She was referring to Feliciano, Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis, of course.

"More for us of then." She replied with a grin. "Now, Mei, do you have the report from last night's dinner?"

"Yes, right here." She handed over a thin file, with several photos paper clipped to the front. "Everything from when Lovino left his apartment to when Matthew's head hit the pillow."

"Good work. I'll go put these with the others…"

"_Would Elizaveta Héderváry please report to the main office? Elizaveta Héderváry to the main office_."

"…After I go see what they want I suppose. You guys can go home now, unless you two have other stuff to talk about. Either way, you're off duty."

Elizaveta tucked the file under her arm, jogged down to the exit, and then hurried over to the main building. The halls were completely bare, and dark until she hurried by, setting off the motion detectors, and flooding them in light.

Only one secretary was still sitting at her desk, typing away on her computer, and glanced up with a smile as the teen walked into the room. "Over there." She said, pointing to the vice principal's office.

"Ah! Miss Héderváry! We were worried that you'd left for home already." The VP, Mrs. Walsh, called from behind her desk. Elizaveta was confused to see the principal was standing there as well.

"I was busy with club activities." She explained. "What's this about? I still have some filing to do."

Mr. Vale, the principal, raised an eyebrow at _filing_, as if wondering what kind of club could possibly have a need to file things except for the photography club, which wasn't student-run. "Yes, well this is about your _club_."

"It's being disbanded." Mrs. Walsh said shortly.

"_What?_" Her jaw hung slack in disbelief. "I- I must've heard you wrong, could you repeat that?"

"We're shutting it down. You'll have to get everything out of your clubroom by Monday morning."

"If this is about the attendance number dropping below minimum, we've got a few new members. I know it's not as big as it was, but it's more than five so-"

"This isn't about minimums, Ms. Héderváry." Mr. Vale snapped. "It's about a number of disturbing reports some of your former members have been coming to us with. They tell us that you've been keeping _tabs_ on, and going as far as _stalking_ other students. This kind of behaviour warrants suspension!"

"It's not what you-"

"Let me finish! We did seriously consider suspension, or even expulsion, but your teachers decided to vouch for you, citing grades, and in-class behaviour as beyond excellent, and deserving of a second chance. We'd hate to lose a talented student like yourself. So the compromise was to disband the YFA, which seems to be the root of your actions."

"P-please sir! It's not at all like that! We're doing this for the benefit of the student-body!" A lie for the most part, but it was true enough that the boys she paired together had all been very happy, and showed no signs of breaking up. "You _can't_-"

"We _can_ and we _are_. This is a serious offence."

"No!" She slammed her hands on the desk, including the file, which she still did her best to cover, even in her raging state. "I promised Feliciano that I'd make his brother happy, and I can't let the YFA shut down until that happens! Without access to the school grounds, we can't do half of what we need to do!"

"And does Mr. Vargas _know_ that you're trying to make him happy?"

"N-no but it wouldn't work at all if he did…"

"And _this_!" He yanked the file from underneath her hand, and started skimming through the pictures. "This is how you waste the budget so graciously bestowed upon you by the school? It's disgusting!" He yanked one out and tore it in half, letting the pieces flutter to the floor.

"Please stop that! They're not that easy to replace!"

"Frank. This has gone a bit too far." Mrs. Walsh noted calmly. "Technically, you're now destroying school property."

Elizaveta flashed the VP a grateful smile as the file was shoved back into her arms. "Not that is matters anyway. You and your little friends are done, and if I hear another word about these activities occurring again, I'll personally see that every one of your current members is expelled regardless of their involvement."

She couldn't bring herself to say another word, so Elizaveta simply ducked her head, and turned to leave. The secretary glanced up again as she left, a look of concern showing on her face, but she too remained quiet.

To Elizaveta's ears now, the tall, heeled boots that always made her sound important, echoed through the halls like funeral bells. Her mind swam in confusion, at a total loss of what to do.

She fumbled with the handle, and was shaking like a leaf when she entered the room, where Mei and Kiku were mulling over the plans for a new doujinshi that they were working on together. Kiku was the first to notice her arrival, and hurried forward. "Elizaveta, are you alright?"

Brown hair flew in every direction as she shook her head. Elizaveta bit her lip, looked her vice-president in the eye, and burst into tears, collapsing on the tiled floor.

"Liz! What's wrong?" Mei asked, rushing to her friend's side. "What happened? Did something happen with your family?"

"N-no, my family's fine. Th-that h-h-homophobic bastard of a p-principal d-disbanded us!" And she continued to explain everything to the two. They were both horrified, and quickly moved to soothe her.

"I'll bet it was Megan's idea." Mei hissed. "She's had it out for you ever since you took over. I'll bet they stole some old files to use as proof too."

"That would explain the disappearance of the Kirkland-Bonnefoy file." Kiku added, nodding in understanding.

"But that one was a dud! There was no way we could ever get those two together in a million years!"

"Which is why we didn't think too much of it when it vanished."

"You're right. So what're we going to do? We can't just leave this mission half-done!"

"What else can we do?" Elizaveta murmured, voice still choking back her sorrow. "We have to pack up and move out by Monday. We'll have no base, no funding, no access to the school cameras, nothing."

"How did you get Freyr and Sadiq together?" Kiku asked calmly.

"What?"

"You did it when you were a freshman, without the support of the YFA. No base, no funding, no access. How did you do it then?"

Elizaveta bit her lip, thinking desperately. "I-I talked to Freyr… got him to admit it to me, and then I did the same with Sadiq. Never directly in either case, of course. First I used any friends that we have in common to get them near each other as much as I could. Once they were really close, I acted as an advisor to the two of them… and then… but Kiku that was different! They already liked each other then, and they were already friends! They just needed a push!"

The dark-haired teen rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry." He murmured, before slapping her with a resounding _smack_. "You've gotten soft in these past few years!"

"Kiku…?"

"You stopped relying on your own skill, and started leaning too heavily on the other members, and school-wide access! Where's your sense of creativity? Where's your passion? We need the old you back! The one who would risk anything! Where is she?"

"But we could all be expelled…"

"You think something like that is going to stop us? We're like a family, even Gilbert would attest to that, and families always see things to the end together! Never quit when the going gets tough, and that's what the others did on the first day, they quit! You're nothing like them at all!"

As if he'd turned on a light bulb inside the Hungarian's mind, the gleam returned to her eyes, and Elizaveta stood up slowly. "I'm sorry you guys." She said with a hesitant smile. "I've been being really selfish, haven't I?"

"Not at all." Mei replied, mirroring her friend's smile. "You just left us for a little while, but now you're back."

"Right." She took a deep breath, and let it out, shaking out the remainder of her gloomy state. "Let's pack up everything first, like they told us. We'll be good little kids and keep them from getting suspicious. Mei, you start taking down the posters. Kiku, you help me get all the files over to my apartment. Then everyone take a break for the weekend. I'll start re-thinking strategies, and we'll regroup Monday after school."

"Yes ma'am!" The two shouted in unison, each snapping a salute.

{}}{{}

By Monday, it seemed that everyone had found out about the disbanding somehow, through friends of a friend and the like. Feliciano of all people seemed oddly down about it, which came as a surprise to most. He was straight, right?

"I just don't get it Mateo. Why would they shut poor Elizaveta down? She loved all of the club members like they were family, even when they all left. Why would they turn on her like that?"

"Well, they never liked what she did with it, remember?" Matthew replied, pulling out his paint sets as they set up for their class. "They liked the results, but from what I've heard, they were all really uncomfortable with actually getting their hands dirty." In truth, he was really disappointed about it too. He'd heard about their work, and had always kind of been hopeful that Elizaveta would pick him for one of her pet projects, and when she'd greeted him in the hallway, he'd assumed that it meant that he had been. He supposed that there just wasn't anyone in the school that he'd go well with.

If only he knew what went on behind those doors.

"I still don't get why they would get in the way of her projects if they liked the end result."

"I don't know Feliciano!" He snapped. He was tired, and really wasn't up to answering every question that flew out of the Italian's mouth. "I've never been a freaky fangirl, I don't know what goes on in their… what're you drawing?"

Feli looked up from his notebook, where he'd been doodling something very intensely. He held it up for Matthew to see and smiled innocently. "It's a clam! I named him Greg!"

There was a beat of silence, before Matthew snorted, and quickly covered his mouth with one hand to keep the giggles from escaping. "Greg?"

His smile slipped into a look of confusion. "I thought it was a good name for a clam."

In mock seriousness, the blond seemed to consider it, and then nodded, and reached for the notebook. Underneath the pretty sketch of a clam, in large block letters, he wrote, _Greg the Clam_, and then handed it back with a grin. "It is a good name."

Feliciano beamed at the addition, and went back to setting up his easel. "I'm going with _fratello_ to the beach this weekend, just before it gets too cold. You should come."

"N-no, I really shouldn't."

"How come?" He demanded, drawing out the last word into a whine worthy of Alfred.

"I don't think you brother really liked hanging out with me." _And he yells a lot. It makes hanging out with him difficult_.

"That's not true! I think _fratello_ really enjoyed your company last night! He called you a naïve little kid with too much on your mind all the time, and it was really hard to keep track of you. That means he likes talking with you! If he was angry last night, it was because of Gilbert."

"R-really?"

"Uhuh! I bet he'd be really happy if you came with us to the beach too, so why not?"

"Well I suppose… It's not like I have anything else on the go…"

"Yay! We'll come get you around noon, okay?"

Matthew nodded, vaguely wondering if they'd even be ready to leave until two.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

See, the sane people here will completely understand where the school is coming from. But they should also understand to never come between a hardcore yaoi fan and her models.

Reviews make Greg the Clam very happy.


	9. Feli's New Tanline

Matthew's guess had been close. They were there at one-thirty, Feliciano tapping out a rhythm on the door, reminiscent of a more Gilbert-like habit. So with a grin, he'd grabbed his bag, and ran to the door. "See you tonight Al!"

"Have fun!" Came the muffled reply. Alfred was still in bed after an all-nighter of Halo with some of his buddies. He likely wouldn't get up until he got hungry around four.

Lovino was already starting down the stairs when he got out of the apartment, while the younger twin waited for him, bouncing on his heels. "Come on Mateo! We want to miss the traffic! It's gonna be great!"

"How're we getting there anyway?" Out of the three of them, while Lovino was the oldest, he was still only just sixteen, and definitely couldn't have a full license yet.

"Lovi's driving."

"Without a license?"

Ahead of them, Lovino shrugged. "I have a learner's permit, I've never been caught yet, and I'm a good driver, so it won't be a problem."

"Yeah but…"

"Relax Mateo! Road rules are just guidelines, after all. We won't get in trouble."

He stopped walking for a moment, before shouting, "no they're not!"

"Look, do you want to come with us, or not?" Lovino snapped. "'Cause I have no problem leaving you behind. You're too damn chatty."

"No… no I'll come." Lovino couldn't really be that bad of a driver, right?

{}}{{}

Wrong.

"Sweet baby Jesus you're going to kill us!" Matthew screamed, clutching the seat in front of him for dear life. The last speed limit sign he'd been capable of reading had declared the limit to be 80, and Lovino had reached well past the 120 mark. It wasn't even human, how controlled the car was at this speed. He swerved between lanes, cut other drivers off, and when he actually did stop, it was a jerking halt that nearly gave them all whiplash. It was no wonder he'd never been caught by the police for driving without a licence. Even if they did try to stop him, he'd just keep on going until they gave up.

"Sorry Mateo! I can't hear you! The wind's too loud!" Lovino shouted back. Both his and Feli's windows were rolled down, letting the wind pound thunderously about the interior of the car.

"Slow down!"

"Don't you know any better? You don't slow down on a highway! It's dangerous!"

He swore he could hear both Italians laughing at him, but it was too hard to tell.

On he bright side, the beach was next to empty of other people when they got there. The sun was warm in its last attempt to be summery, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Isn't it pretty?" Feli cheered, hopping out o the passenger's side.

"I'm just gonna sleep for a minute." Matthew muttered, feeling rather ill.

"Aw! Mateo! You can't just go to sleep! We're here to have fun!"

He only had time to let out a faint groan of disappointment as Feliciano grabbed his wrists, and literally dragged him out of the car, before he hit the ground with a dull thud. "Ow…"

"Feliciano! Don't kill the poor guy." Lovino snapped. "You see, this is why _mamma_ and _papa_ never let you have pets!"

"Oh… sorry Mateo."

"No problem." He groaned, getting to his feet. "Well, let's unpack the stuff."

They both joined Lovino, who was already pulling the cooler out of the car. "Here, make yourself useful and take this, would you?" He muttered, handing it off to Matthew.

"Sure." He took it over to the shore, surprised at how heavy it was for just the three of them for the day, and set it down in the sand with a muffled thump. Feliciano was just a few steps behind, carrying a big red bag with towels and sunscreen. Lovino took up the rear of the line with the tall umbrella, which he jabbed into the sand several feet away from where the others stood.

"_Fratello_, what's wrong with over here?"

"There are too many rocks there. It's sandier right here."

Matthew didn't notice a difference, but he didn't want to make a fuss, so he picked the cooler up again, and moved it over to where the Italian was waiting.

"So what's all in here?"

"Not much. Just the stuff we really need for the beach." Feliciano answered cheerfully. "Like pop, and chips, and pasta, and bread, and chicken, and…"

"What, did you bring a whole picnic?"

"Of course! We'll be here all day after all! There's no sense in going hungry!"

Though he failed to see anything appetizing about food with sand in it, Matthew decided against pointing out the flaws in Feliciano's logic, knowing it would fail to reach past his naïve stubbornness. "Okay then."

"So do you want to go swimming first?"

"Er, I was thinking of getting warmed up first." All the swimming he'd done in the Great Lakes during the four years of living in the US had taught him to heat up before jumping into freezing water at a young age. He might be Canadian, but he wasn't a polar bear, and he honestly preferred nice, heated pools.

"Oh but where's the fun in that? Come on!"

He was really noticing his doormat-self emerging on this trip. Definitely not a good sign.

He turned to Lovino for some moral backup, but the look on the other's face said it all. 'Nothing you can say will stop him. Suck it up princess, and get in the water.' So he turned back to the water, cringed, knowing what was in store for him, and got to his feet to follow Feli to the shore.

It was just as cold as he thought it would be. Teeth rattling, he turned to the other teen, who was shivering just as badly as he was, but still grinning. "Holy shit Feli! Are you insane?" He gasped.

"You're right Mateo… Lovino! You come in too!"

"Fuuuuck no." Lovino half-groaned, half-shouted in reply. He'd already contented himself to sit in the shade with a novel in hand. The lucky bastard.

"Lovi! You have to come in! It's no fun just sitting by yourself!"

"I beg to differ. And don't call me Lovi!"

"Sorry." He turned back, and treaded a little lower in the water. "Guess it's just us Mateo…" He sighed, already starting with his puppy eyes.

"Stay here. I'll get him." He was fairly relieved to be getting out of the water, even though he was just starting to get used to it. He waded confidently onto the shore, walked right up to Lovino, and stared at him, hands planted firmly on his hips. "_You_ are going to march yourself right into that frigid water and suffer with me or else."

"Or else what? You look silly like that, by the way."

Matthew turned faintly red, and dropped his arms back to his side. "I'm too lazy to come up with anything good. Just go swimming, okay?"

"No deal."

"Well then you can explain to all the other beach-goers here why your fifteen year-old brother is crying when I tell him you're not swimming."

"I'll just tell him he's _special_."

"How could you do something like that?"

"Easy. I've been doing it for years. Actually, it's kind of a shame that there aren't more people to tell. The look on their faces is always worth a laugh."

"You're an asshole."

"The more you talk, the less I want to swim, _idiota_."

Matthew knew a lost cause when he saw it. So with a sigh, he returned to give Feliciano the news.

Oddly enough Feli didn't look too put out when he saw the blond returning alone. Even stranger, he was grinning.

"What's up? I thought you'd be disappointed."

"Why would I be?"

He opened his mouth to answer that Lovino wasn't going to go swimming, when a sheet of ice-cold water broke over his back, and all that came out was a sharp gasp.

But he was too busy glaring at the person behind him to really care about how damn cold it was. Lovino was smirking only slightly, while Feliciano laughed happily at the fact that his brother had actually joined them in the water.

"You're a dick."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Feli? You want to be on my team?" Matthew asked the younger twin, who nodded eagerly. "Bring it on!"

The three began a splash war of epic proportions, which only stopped when both twins declared it to be lunchtime, and they took a break, (Pasta + sand _still_ wasn't a good combination in Matthew's opinion) and then returned for round two.

As the day wore on, Feli gave up on the war, and went to take a siesta on a towel, while the other two continued with no signs of stopping. They were both just way too stubborn when it came to even the most pointless things, like splash wars.

After his nap, Feliciano walked a little ways down the beach, looking for shells, and returned triumphantly with a large clam. "Mateo! I found Greg!"

"That's awesome Fel-mph!" Matthew coughed, and spat out the water Lovino had just hit his face with, and glared at the offending teen, who just smirked and prepared a second wave.

{}}{{}

Blue sky melted into orange, and the flow of beach-goers slowed to a trickle, and almost everyone had left. But they were still going, only having taken a few breaks to catch their breath. There was still no visible winner, and both were too stubborn to even consider admitting defeat.

"_Fratello_! It's getting late! We'll have to head out if we don't want to be locked off campus!" Feliciano shouted at last.

"Okay!" Lovino shouted back, before turning to Matthew. "Well. Come on then! I don't want to sleep in a car with that _idiota_."

"How come you're always picking on your little brother like that?" The Canadian wondered aloud. Sure, Feliciano's elevator didn't go all the way to the top floor, but neither did Alfred's. And he never pointed it out. (Much)

"I don't always pick on Feliciano… I pick on other people too." And before the other could retort, Lovino shoved him backwards into the water. However, while Matthew's head was still under, rendering him deaf, Lovino did take the opportunity to mutter, "You're not half bad, even if you do talk too much."

By the time Matthew re-emerged, spluttering, "What the hell was that for?" Lovino was already halfway to the shore.

"Hey, you remembered to wear sunscreen, right?"

Feli blinked in surprise, and thought about it. "I started to…"

"Never mind. I can already see where you got bored with it." He indicated the sloppy line across his midriff, above which were cherry-red burns.

"Oops."

"You are such an idiot."

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!


	10. Doctor Lovi to the Rescue

The Monday after their trip to the beach, Matthew came down with the flu. And Alfred, of course, had attempted to get out of school by claiming that 'his frail little brother needed all of the care and attention a hero could give'. Sadly, he'd already attempted to pull that trick once before, and when one of their teachers had stopped by with homework, she'd discovered Alfred playing Black Ops at top volume while Matthew attempted to sleep. So when he'd called the main office to report that neither one of them would be coming in, all he got was an earful of 'Get to class!'

As he walked out of the apartment towards the car, Alfred saw Feliciano and Lovino walking towards the school, and jogged to catch up with them. "Hey! You're in Mattie's classes right?" He asked, slapping the younger twin on the back, making him yelp in pain.

"Mmhm." Feli whimpered, tears springing into his eyes as the sting spread across the burn.

"Think you could bring his homework back to our place after school? I've got practice."

"What's wrong with him?" Lovino asked, knowing his brother would ask if he weren't currently suffering deeply, and would likely complain later if he didn't ask for him.

"He caught the flu sometime between yesterday and four a.m. this morning when he started puking his guts out, which was nasty, by the way, I'm never cleaning that shit ever again."

"It's good to know you have your brother's best interests at heart, Jones."

"Same to you Vargas. So you'll take the stuff to him, right?"

"Ve~! No problem!" Feliciano seemed to have gotten over the pain running along his back, just in time for Alfred to clap him on the back again.

"Thanks man! See you!"

The American hurried back to his car, and Lovino turned back to his brother. "Oh come on, stop crying."

"But it hurts!"

"I told you to put on sunscreen, didn't I?"

"You're mean Fratello…"

"Hey! I bought you some stuff for your burn."

"Yeah…"

"Then quit whining. You'll remember to get Mateo's work from art?"

"Yep! I'll get that and the history stuff, can you get the rest?"

"Yeah, yeah." Lovino muttered, now slipping into a deep thought, trying to figure out what classes he had with Matthew (even though they now sat together in chemistry). He'd never really paid attention to any of his classmates, let alone the little Canadian who gained about as much attention as white rabbit in a snowstorm.

{}}{{}

"Ve… Fratello, how're we going to get in?"

They were standing in front of the apartment, arms filled with extra notes, and worksheets. With an irritated sigh, Lovino dumped his armload onto Feliciano, and flipped up the corner of the welcome mat, (Alfred's idea, judging by the copious amounts of red white and blue paint splattered across it) to reveal the spare key. "Have fun." He said, unlocking the door, and swinging it open.

"You're not coming in too?"

"Of course not! I don't wanna catch whatever he's got!"

Then Feliciano turned that pout towards him. The one that not even the legendary stony façade of Ludwig Beilschmidt could say no to. Not even Lovino, who'd been raised around that pout could refuse it. He rolled his eyes, and followed his twin into the apartment. "Fine. But if I get sick, it's your fault."

"Alright! Then I'll take really good care of you."

He looked about to snap something about that not making him feel any better, but instead turned to the empty apartment, and bellowed, "Mateo? You in here?"

"Fratello! He might be sleeping!" Feliciano whispered, looking horrified.

But still, a small voice fluttered from one of the bedrooms. "No shit."

"We brought your work from classes!"

"Thanks. Just leave it on the coffee table."

The apartment they stood in was identical to their own, in every way, except for the coats and papers left sprawled out across the couch and chairs in the living room, likely left by Alfred, while Feliciano made sure theirs was always clean. Probably because he didn't want Ludwig to have a seizure every time he came over.

The tile in the kitchen was the same pale white, same black appliances, granite countertops, and white cupboards. Same island separating the kitchen from the living room, with cupboards hanging above it, and bar stools beside it. Same beige carpet, and dark brown couch, with two matching chairs kitty-cornering it, and a long coffee table in the middle, which was where Lovino left the notes that he took from Feliciano.

"Okay! See you when you're better!" He called, and turned to leave, only to be confronted by Feliciano's pout again.

"We can't just leave him like this."

"Uh… yes we can."

"You're horrible! Go check on Mateo, and I'm going to make him my special get-better pasta."

Lovino grumbled unintelligibly, and continued on to the far hall, and turned right. The first door was labelled _ALFRED_ in massive letters on a sign, emblazed with eagles and aliens. The farther one had Matthew's name written in the same lettering, probably more of Alfred's handiwork. The American seemed to have this need to make everything in the apartment as unique as the rules would allow.

"Mateo? I'm coming in. You'd better not be contagious."

Without waiting for a reply, he walked in the room.

It was a stark contrast from the main space. Everything was immaculate. Binders were stacked neatly on the desk next to the computer, and a jar of pens sat on the corner. Several hockey posters were tacked to the wall, which didn't surprise Lovino at all somehow. What _did _surprise him, was the seat he had at his deck instead of the usual chairs. It was a large stack of cushions that looked suspiciously like pancakes. Despite that, everything looked good enough to pass a military inspection.

Well, except for Matthew himself, who was a curled up lump underneath the dark red comforter. Any military higher-up would've beaten him black and blue for that, sick or not. "You alive in there?"

"Yeah, yeah." Matthew mumbled. His voice sounded like it was sliding through sandpaper. "But I _do_ have a fever, so I'm probably still contagious."

"No?" He began sarcastically. "And here I would've thought you'd be fine after having the flu for a little over twelve hours."

"You should see how quickly Al can bounce back. It's insane."

"That's because idiots don't catch colds, remember?"

"But this isn't a cold. It's the flu."

"You know what I mean."

"I guess so… what's that sound?"

Lovino glanced out the open door to the living space, and turned back with a smirk. "Feliciano is making you pasta. I'd recommend finding a good way of hiding it so you don't throw up all over the place, seeing as your _idiota _of a brother isn't going to clean any of it up."

Almost the very mentioning of _pasta_ made the blond go faintly green, and he burrowed back down under the covers. "Tell him I went to sleep or something."

"That's what you should be doing anyway."

"Well I _was_ until you started screaming like I was half a mile away."

"Alright then, I'll get out of your hair. You need anything before we head out?"

"Maybe some water?" His voice was already becoming foggy with sleep as his eyelids became heavier, and breaths slowed.

"Sure." He walked out of the room, and found his twin in the kitchen, humming brightly as he dug through cupboards for a box of pasta, which was evading his sight.

"_Fratello_, I don't think they have pasta." He said in a horrified whisper. "There's none in here!"

"Well you can bring some over later, Mateo went back to sleep. I'm just going to leave him a glass of water for when he wakes up."

"Ve… won't he be hungry?"

"No, Alfred stopped by with lunch, and he's bringing chicken soup home tonight." The lie flew out easily, and without another word, Lovino grabbed a glass, filled it from the tap, and headed back to the bedroom.

"Here you go Mateo…" He set the glass down on the bedside table, and then looked up with a sigh at the blond's face. It was a furious shade of red, and his breaths were coming out in short pants as he slept. "_Idiota._ I asked if you wanted anything, you could've asked for a wet cloth." Just to check, he reached out to touch his forehead. He could feel heat radiating from the teen before he even touched him.

Still muttering, Lovino started towards the bathroom, grabbing a facecloth from the linen closet as he went.

"_Fratello_! Aren't we going?"

"In a sec!" He flipped the cold water on, and waited until the cloth was thoroughly soaked before removing it, and returning to the sleeping Canadian, folding the cloth as he went.

"Lovi I thought you wanted to…" Feliciano's voice faded as he walked into the room, and saw the blond's condition. "Does Mateo have a fever?"

"No shit!" He snapped back. "Why don't you run over to the bathroom and see if they've got anything for it. Then we'll just leave him with that."

When Feliciano didn't move right away, he turned to question why, only to stop at the oddly wide grin on his face. "What's wrong with you?"

"You're being so nice _Fratello_!" The younger gushed, ruffling Lovino's dark hair affectionately. "You don't do that very often!"

"What the hell are you going on about now?"

Feliciano didn't answer, but he did turn to go search the medicine cabinet as he was asked, now with a new reason for his cheerfulness.

Elizaveta would be really happy to hear about this new turn of events, he just knew it. It would definitely make up for his annoying her a few days before.

He'd also found some Motrin. That was also a pretty good reason to be happy, in his opinion.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Oh hai there obligatory fever chapter! You always manage to bring out the loving side of asshats like Lovi. Now, if you'll excuse me it's time for me to scuttle off and finish the next chapter in a blind panic.


	11. It's Halloween Mistletoe Right?

"Mattie! Come on! We're gonna be late, and I'm the designated punch-spiker and if we don't get there soon, it'll go un-spiked and I will be forever ashamed!" Alfred whined, kicking the bathroom door yet again. The wood at the hinges groaned and threatened to splinter if he kicked it any harder.

"Oh calm down Al! The party only started a couple minutes ago. At least give the responsible ones a little time to enjoy themselves before you do whatever you're going to do to that poor unsuspecting punch bowl."

"Why do you have to be such a woman broski?"

"If you're that impatient, go by yourself. There's a lot of buttons on this thing."

"But I don't wanna go alone. Mattieeeee!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be right out. Just grab my hat, okay?"

"Sure."

As he grabbed the tan hat from the coffee table in the living room, the lock clicked in the bathroom, and Matthew emerged, doing up the last button on his crimson jacket.

"You're such a dork." Alfred snorted, tossing his brother the hat.

"Oh, and you're not, Sherlock?"

"It only looks dorky because you wouldn't be Watson." He replied, pulling at his collar with a sharp snap.

"Hey! You've got the collar thing down pat!"

"…What collar thing?"

"The 'pulling up the collar to make yourself look cool' thing."

Alfred stared at him unblinkingly for a moment, before it dawned on him. "Oh yeah! Sorry, I still haven't gotten through the second season."

"You're kidding, right?"

The blond shook his head rapidly. "It doesn't download fast enough, and mom's making us wait until Christmas to buy the box set."

"That would explain why you didn't get it when I told you to buy the hat."

"…He wears it?" He asked incredulously.

"Only twice. But it gets brought up a lot. No one's going to get what you're supposed to be without it."

"Awesome people will."

"Maybe if you shoot the wall." He muttered, reaching for the doorknob. "Now come on, you've got punch to spike, right?"

"Yep!"

The two brothers walked across the parking lot towards the only other building on campus that was still lit. That being the larger of two gyms. While the student body was allowed the actual hall for more serious parties, the gym was the only facility they could get for free for functions like a Halloween party.

They fell into step with a few other groups of costumed students, and finally reached a small line to get inside. They had to show student ID cards to the bouncer (the best tackle on the football team) who was dressed as a werewolf, and then could finally enter the already crowded building.

"Hey Mattie, is that Kiku up there?"

The Canadian glanced up to where his brother was pointing. Indeed, Kiku was standing on the metal bars that made up the underside of the bleachers, leaning over the doorway to the washrooms.

"Yeah. What's he up to?"

"I dunno. Something ninja probably. Oi! Kiku! What 'cha doing?"

The smaller teen started, and nearly lost his balance, before catching himself, and turning to face to others. "Oh! Alfred, I am helping with the decorations!" His voice was barely audible over the heavy bass coming through the speakers.

"What is that you're hanging up?"

"Mistletoe!"

Alfred was silent only for a moment. "Why?"

"Is it not a western custom?"

"At Christmas, yeah! You're a couple months early!"

"Oh… Elizaveta told me to though!"

"I should've known it was her idea. Well! Get down here before you kill yourself!"

"You have no need to worry for my safety."

"Humour me."

With a little smile, Kiku slid down to the floor, and brushed a bit of dust from his sleeve. "Someone should really clean up there."

"Are you kidding? That'd take years!" Alfred started with the obligatory joke.

Kiku replied with the obligatory chuckle. "Forgive me, but what are you supposed to be dressed up as?"

Even Matthew's laughter was loud enough to be heard over the music as Alfred attempted to explain.

"You know what? I'm going to go spike the punch now. You two kind of suck right now." The American declared at last.

"Oh Al, sorry, but it _was _kind of funny."

"_Kind of_? You were killing yourself! I know you're a douche-canoe, but you don't have to make fun of me because I have really good costume ideas, and no one gets them."

"Sorry Al. Do you want help spiking the punch?"

"No, what I want you to do is go home, put on one of those dorky sweaters that I know you keep stuffed in the bottom of your dresser, some slacks and dress shoes, and that brown leather jacket, get back here, and be Watson."

"Alfred. I am a Mountie. I'm not changing."

With a pout glued firmly in place, he stalked off toward the punch table, muttering about 'stupid Canadians and their stupid horses and stupid red jackets.'

"Ve… Is Alfredo having a bad day?" Matthew turned back to see that Feliciano was now standing next to Kiku, watching Alfred disappear into the crowds.

"Yeah, ever since I refused to wear the costume he wanted me to, and then Natalya got sick and couldn't show up. He's not really having a good time. It's a real shame, especially seeing as Halloween is Al's favourite holiday."

"Oh that's too bad! He should get to eat lots of treats! That'll make him feel better."

"Trust me, treats will not be a problem."

Besides the mountain of candy Al had brought home from a trip into town, and the boxes their parents had sent them, the student council had provided all of the black and orange bowls of fun-sized candies and punch with gummy worms in it. (A recipe that never grew old, no matter how many times they'd vowed not to drink it again after nearly inhaling one of the slimy offenders.) Alfred's sugar craving would be thoroughly satisfied before the night was out. Either that or his alcohol craving, whichever came first.

"Well, Happy Halloween Mateo! I'm going to get some punch!"

"Oh geez, Feli! How about we get some from the table on the other side." His brother probably hadn't gotten to that one yet.

"But this one's closer…"

"Yeah but they put way too many gummies in that one! The worm-to-punch ratio is all off."

"Oh… okay. We'll have to find Lovi too."

"Oh, he's here? I didn't think he'd be too into Halloween."

"He's not. But I bugged him enough, and he agreed to at least come for a little bit, just to say hi."

"You have that down to an art."

"You think so? There's room for improvement."

"For your puppy eyes? Really?"

"You should see Nonno's. They're crazy-good! Even papa can't say no to them! Oh! There's Lovi! _Fratello_!" Feliciano bellowed, though his voice was lost amid the noise around them. "We'll just have to get him. Come on Mateo!"

Matthew grinned, and allowed himself to be dragged through the crowds by Feliciano's iron grip until they reached Lovino, who looked very much like someone who just wanted to get the hell out of there.

"What the hell are you supposed to be?" Were the first words out of the Italian's mouth.

"Um… a Mountie…" He replied a little more quietly, face suddenly very red. He should've known it would be a silly idea. Even fewer people would recognize his costume than Alfred's.

"Well aren't you just _precious_?"

"Hey, at least I wore a costume. You're the sorest thumb here, not me."

"I'll hang on to my dignity, thanks."

Face still burning, Matthew turned to the snacks-table in a quick effort to change the subject. "You wanted punch Feli?"

"Ve! Right! Come on _fratello_, let's get something to drink!"

"Yeah, like you need anymore sugar."

"Lovino, it has come to my attention that you're doing your best to defeat every purpose of this holiday, and it kind of sucks."

Lovino shot him a look that was halfway between surprise and amusement, but followed the two nonetheless. "Habit, I suppose."

"Messing with everyone's fun?"

"See? You get it."

Feliciano was quick to grab some cups of punch once they'd arrived at the table, and lifted his high into the air. "A toast! To really fun holidays!"

"Hear, hear!" Matthew called back, tipping his own cup back. He winced as the less-than familiar taste of vodka stung his mouth and throat. He grimaced, swallowed it, and then looked worriedly over at Feliciano. "How the hell did Al get over here so fast?" He wondered aloud.

"Elementary, my dear broski!" Al cheered, wrapping an arm around his little brother, who looked none too pleased. "I'm just really fast, and amazing."

"Oh that was so many shades of wrong."

"So what's up, mafia boys? You like my special recipe, or what?"

"I'll go with 'or what' on this one." Lovino muttered. "It's not a good idea to let morons drink."

"Boo! Lovino's no fun! Here, Mattie, help me boo him! Boo!"

"How, Alfred? How the hell have you already been drinking this much? I saw you all of five minutes ago."

Alfred tapped a finger to the side of his nose. "I'm jus' that good bro! Also, I'm very not wasted. Haven't had a drink since last week."

"Right, I'm sorry, you're just usually obnoxious. My bad." But his muttered remark was lost in all the noise.

"So seriously, you like the punch?"

"It's…" He took one glance at his brother's hopeful expression, and knew that it would crush him to hear all the negatives about it. Or at least, he wouldn't hear the end of how 'he'd ruined the best holiday ever.' "It's pretty good Al. I'm not much of a drinker, that's all."

"Right! I forgot you were such a lightweight! Even that kid in grade nine Ravis could out-drink you!"

"…What was that?"

Almost immediately, the American seemed to have spotted his mistake, and took a sheepish step backwards. "Woah there broski! I didn't mean… It's cool; you don't have to prove anything. I was just kidding around, that's all!"

Matthew stood a little taller, and stared at the punch table for a moment, before screaming, "Challenge accepted!"

"Oh shit! Broski! Don't do this man! Mafia guys! Help me hold him back!"

Feliciano was quick to help Alfred hold the blond back from the table, though Lovino looked like he'd rather watch for a little while. Very little about school functions amused him, so this was a lucky break.

"C'mon Mattie! I'll give you a box of my candy from town!"

Matthew looked slightly tempted at the offer, though his eyes were still narrowed in suspicious irritation. "An unopened one?"

"Sure! Just forget I said anything about the booze, okay?"

He sighed, though it too was lost to the others. "Okay. Sorry I snapped Al. It's just all the noise is kind of giving me a headache. I think I'll head back to the apartment."

Alfred looked about ready to whine again, when Feliciano stepped in. "Ve! _Fratello_! Why don't you and Mateo head home, and I'll hang out with Alfredo, okay?"

"He doesn't need a babysitter, _idiota_."

"But I thought you wanted to leave. You don't usually like parties."

"…Oh, right." Lovino blushed, and turned sharply towards the exit. "Come on then." This he said indicating Matthew, who nodded, even though the other's head was turned away from him, and followed him out of the gym.

"So tell me, is it _just_ the principle of annoying people, or did you seriously never get into things like Halloween?"

"Like I said, it's a habit. Our parents aren't big on holidays, so we only really celebrated if _Nonno_ was in town at the time."

"Even when you were little?"

"Even then. It's no problem. Feliciano enjoys the holidays enough for the rest of us."

"It doesn't really seem like good parenting to deprive your kids of celebrations."

"It's not really your business, now is it?"

"Oh! Sorry." He slid the hat into his hands, and stared at it awkwardly as they got farther away from the gym.

The rest of the way to the dorm passed in silence.

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Thanks for reading~!

Okay, this chapter was more my Sherlock fix than anything. But I'm done now, I promise.


	12. Tommy Texter

Matthew met Lovino at the front door of the movie theatre with his cellphone out, as if he'd just been in the process of texting him to ask why he wasn't there yet. "Where's Feliciano?" He asked. "I thought he was really excited to see this movie."

"He was. But he had too much pasta last night, and I woke up to him puking." The Italian made a face before continuing. "But he made me come anyway, so you'll just have to put up with me."

"I think I can manage." He said brightly. "So if he's not coming, maybe we should see a different movie? I'd hate for him to feel down because we saw it and he didn't."

The look that flashed across Lovino's face could only be described as deepest gratitude. "_Thank you_! I was so worried I'd have to see such a kiddie movie, and _then_ have to describe it in detail to that stupid glutton."

Matthew chuckled, and let his gaze sweep across the list of titles. "There was a new _Dark Knight_ movie that came out last week. We could go see that."

"Sure. I remember taking Feliciano to see the first one. He had nightmares for a week afterwards." He paused for a moment before adding, "It was priceless."

He could see Matthew attempting to hide his slowly growing grin, biting the inside of his cheek. "You're a terrible big brother."

"Oh I'm the best there is."

"You know, I think I've heard Gilbert say that too."

"Ludwig could testify against that."

Still grinning, Matthew led the way to the front desk, and bought their tickets from the teenaged girl sitting there. "Why don't you buy popcorn, and I'll go get us seats?"

"Yeah, yeah. Change the subject." Lovino muttered, snatching his ticket from the Canadian's outstretched hand, and turning towards the larger stand, while Matthew headed towards the theatre.

There was only a smattering of people sitting in the theatre when he got in. But the movie wouldn't start for about ten minutes, so it would probably fill up quickly. Matthew would have to find good seats that were still far away from people, or Lovino would make a huge deal of moving them. Alfred always did the same thing.

Finally, he settled on some seats in an empty row, a bit off-centre. It was a trick Alfred had taught him when they were younger. If you sat dead centre, people would fill in both sides of you, but if you went slightly off to one side, you might get some people on the side with more seats, but the other side would remain empty as long as the theatre didn't get too full. Lovino would probably be satisfied with this logic.

"Hey, I bought you food, shove over one more seat."

Speak of the devil. With an exaggerated groan, the blond stood up, and sat down again in the next seat. "So what'd you get?"

"Popcorn. What else do you get at the movies?"

Matthew reached over to grab a handful, which he tossed into his mouth, only to wince. "It's bland."

"Well then don't eat it."

"You didn't put _anything_ on it?"

"That's the way to do it. Don't like it, you should've bought your own."

"So did you at least get good pop?"

"That depends, you want Coke or root beer?"

"Root beer."

"Then I got root beer."

Matthew smiled politely, and accepted the drink, but then let his gaze fall to the small lump in Lovino's coat pocket. His cell phone. He hadn't seen him turn it off, so he could assume that it was still on.

Devious plans are the best kind. "I'm going to the bathroom." He muttered.

"I'm not going to save your seat."

"I won't be that long." He hurried past the Italian, and ducked around to the exit, before pulling out his own phone. Grinning, he found Lovino's number in his contacts, and texted him. _–Don't be a Tommy Texter Lovi~! :P– _

Still grinning, he snapped his phone shut, and peaked back into the theatre. In the darkness, he saw the pale blue light of Lovino's phone blinking to life, followed almost instantly by it going out, as Lovino got to his feet, and hurried over to the exit. "You dumb shit!" He growled as he approached Matthew.

The Canadian started laughing nervously, and backed away from the approaching teen. "Come on Lovino, there's no need to get so pissed. It was completely harmless."

"You're so annoying!" He snapped, grabbing Matthew's arm tightly with one hand, while bringing up the second to swat him on the head. "Let's go back before someone jacks my popcorn."

"Why would anyone want to steal it? You didn't put anything on it."

"Hey guess what? I actually got Coke?"

"Liar."

"You wanna bet?"

"Hell yeah I wanna bet."

The few people who were in the theatre watched in mild amusement as the two sprinted back into the theatre full speed. Some other teenager actually shouted 'Run bitch run!' to Matthew, who just flipped the bird in his general direction, before plopping down in his seat, grabbing Lovino's popcorn as he did, holding it out of reach.

"Hey! Give it here!"

"What's the magic word?" He teased.

"_Bastardo_! Hand it over."

"Hmm… I don't think that's the word."

"What are you, four?"

"Four and _a half_, thank you very much."

It didn't take very long for Lovino to start sniggering at the feigned look of seriousness on Matthew's face. Then it became a long peal of (albeit sarcastic) laughter. "Okay… okay you win. _Per favore._"

"Now was that so hard?"

"Yes. Hand it over."

"Okay, here's your crappy popcorn."

"I'll enjoy every bite."

"You do that."

As the coming attractions splashed across the screen, the two fell into a comfortable silence, occasionally pointing out what looked good, or what looked stupid. It was a lot better than going with Alfred, who thought every movie that came out of Hollywood had to be pure gold, and wouldn't hear a word against them.

But about ten minutes into the movie, the girls in front of them pulled out cellphones, and started texting. The rapid-fire little clicks seemed thunderous to the other two, who both had sensitive ears, especially in theatres.

"Hey!" Lovino hissed, kicking the seat sharply. "Either watch to movie, or fuck off."

One of the girls just made a little 'ugh' noise, and shook her head, immediately going back to her phone.

"I mean it!"

Finally, she turned around to glare at them both. "Why don't you mind your own business? You're kind of _bothering_ people who want to watch the movie?"

_Oh so she's one of _those_ girls_. He thought bitterly. "Don't make me break your phone, _bitch_. I hate to make retards cry. I find it to be pretty insensitive."

With another irritated noise, she turned around again, and started a new text, probably telling someone about the asshole behind her.

"Just let it go Lovi, you'll never get anywhere with people like her. Besides, _you_ were texting in the theatre too, if memory serves me."

"Excuse me? You were the _asino_ who…" He paused when the girls turned around to shush them rather prissily, and then continued more quietly. "You were the one who texted me."

"Ah yes, but I wasn't the one in the theatre, now was I?"

"I hate you so much."

"Okay, you little Tommy Texter!"

{}}{{}

Lovino was still grumbling about idiots ruining his movies all the time when they got out of the theatre. "Two hours! I wasted two hours sitting there listening to those dumb girls chatter like pigeons, and I couldn't even focus on the movie because you were being a dick!"

"Oh _I _was being a dick? Look at yourself Mr. I-don't-butter-popcorn-because-I-don't-want-to-share."

As annoyed as he tried to be, Lovino was still in a good mood. The movie had been good, and Matthew was a decent movie-buddy. He didn't talk too much, didn't ask what was going on like Feliciano always did.

He blinked in surprise when he realized that Matthew was no longer beside him, but on the floor a few steps back, in front of some freaky-tall guy.

"Sorry about that." The blond murmured. "I wasn't really paying attention… oh hey Ivan."

The teen he'd walked into was indeed Ivan Braginski, who now held out a hand to help Matthew to his feet. "Don't worry about it. Are you alright?"

"Just fine, thanks. What brings you here?"

The Russian grimaced slightly. "My sisters dragged me out here."

"Of course they did! Ivan, you've got to stop letting them push you around."

"_Да_, I know, but I've never been able to say no to them."

"Sure. Oh! Lovino, you know Ivan, right?"

"A little, yeah." They were both musicians, both usually soloists in concerts. Lovino on violin, and Ivan on cello. More than once the music teachers had asked if they wanted to find two more players and start a string quartet, but every time, they'd both refused, saying they didn't know anyone else, nor did they have the time. For the most part, they tolerated each other, and on occasion, they _could_ get along. They just usually didn't see a need to try.

"Well, it was nice to see you again Matvey. You don't visit as often as you used to. Katyusha often talks about missing you."

"Well, let her know I'll stop by this weekend."

"Bring pancakes."

He laughed brightly, and nodded. "It's a deal."

As they walked away, Lovino looked at the blond curiously. "You're friends with Braginski?"

"Yeah. Well, friends with his sister, really. But we both play hockey a lot, so we've started hanging out a bit more than when we were kids."

Somehow, the idea of the quiet Canadian being good friends with that massive, sadistic teen didn't make sense.

Then again, it didn't really make sense that the two of _them _were hanging out either.

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Thanks for reading~!

News report! I will be in Toronto for Anime North this time next week maybe as Maka with a book instead of a scythe, and definitely as Hungary (with the red skirt and black vest get-up). Also, my brother will probably be wearing a black t-shirt and a sign reading '"Finland's Boss". Also, also, one of my friends will be Hughes from FMA, and if you went last year, you probably know who he is. He was the one with the wallet of photos. You're all welcome to come and say hi if you're in the area, because the creeper in me wants to meet some of you guys. (There's no way of saying that without sounding creepy, but I swear it's not.)

Due to this, the next chapter might be later than usual. It depends on if the Internet in the hotel is free or not.


	13. Not Part of the Plan

Over the next few days, Lovino noticed some significant changes to Matthew's normally solid routine. Instead of eating in the cafeteria, or going home for lunch, the blond had taken to eating in the music room, even though he didn't take any music classes. He usually sat with Ivan near the back, chatting between bites.

After school, instead of walking or driving back to the dorm with Alfred, or the twins, he hung back to work with Ivan on the rearrangement of _Roadside_ for just one cello and guitar (borrowed from Alfred.)

And weekends, which had recently been dedicated to hanging out with Lovino, Feliciano, and occasionally Gilbert, now, belonged to Ivan, (yet again) and Katyusha.

The sheer amount of time now dedicated to the Russian was astounding, given that just a few days prior, Matthew seemed to spend most of his days alone or with his brother. (Who was always texting anyway, so it was basically the same thing as being alone.)

It wasn't like he was complaining about it. Feliciano had backed off significantly in his pushing them to hang out more, which made life a lot less stressful for him. He didn't know how people did it all the time, running all over creation to spend a few hours with someone he'd only known for a little over month… it was insanity, all of it. He had repertoire to learn for class after all. He didn't have the time to be bending over backwards to make his idiotic brother happy.

And at the same time, he'd be a liar if he said he didn't miss talking with Matthew at all. Sure he could still talk to him in his new hangout in the music room, but it just wasn't the same with the Russian hovering around them all the time, being part of the conversation. (Lovino wasn't jealous damnit!) Matthew was the only person who could put up with him hating everything, and even laugh at his anger sometimes. He didn't want to talk about how much he hated Roderick while Ivan was there.

It didn't help that he didn't really trust Ivan. He'd heard the rumours in freshman year about the infamous Braginski son. How he was psychotic, and had to be on enough medication to sedate a bull elephant in order to maintain his sanity.

Either Matthew hadn't heard about this, or he knew and was just that damn nice. Lovino wouldn't have been surprised either way.

After about a week of being all but ignored by his friend, he was fed up enough to do something about it. Even – God forbid – be friendly.

"Mateo. Why don't you come over tonight? Feliciano says he's making especially special pasta, and he wanted to know if you were planning on being hungry. His words, not mine." An outright lie – Feli thought every noodle of pasta was special – But he knew that his twin would be more than happy to feed the Canadian.

In fact, even Lovino could feel his hyper-Italian side kicking in whenever he noted how skinny Matthew was, and how he definitely needed to eat lots more.

"Sure. Sounds like fun. You don't mind if Alfred tags along though, right? He'd starve if I don't cook."

"No problem. We'll just make lots. Does seven sound good?"

"Sounds perfect."

He opened his mouth to continue to a normal conversation, but Matthew's violet eyes began to wander, and brightened at something behind Lovino. "Sorry. I have to go see somebody right now. But I'll definitely be there tonight."

"I'll hold you to that." He watched the blond race to greet Ivan. 'What a fucking surprise.' Lovino thought dryly. (He _wasn't_ jealous!)

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"Extra pasta?"

"Yeah. Mateo and Alfred are coming."

"That was so nice of you to invite them!"

"Yeah, sure. Just don't forget, okay?"

"You know I won't."

The water on the stovetop began to boil, and Feli scurried back to the kitchen to start working on his craft.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, working in tandem to finish their favourite meal. For once, Lovino didn't find any fault in whatever his brother did, and Feliciano didn't say or do anything conceivably annoying.

Now if only it could ever stay like that for more than the twenty minutes or so that it took to make dinner.

Matthew and Alfred arrived right as Feliciano turned off the burner with a snap, as the meal had been choreographed down to the last second. "Hi there! Make yourselves at home!"

"Thanks man!" Alfred said flashing a goofy grin as he flopped onto the first chair.

"Do you need a hand with anything?"

"No thanks Mateo! You're the guest, silly! Just sit down, and we'll take care of everything!"

Lovino held out the plates as his twin emptied heaping mountains of pasta onto them, quickly emptying the entire pot, and then doing the same with the rich sauce. "So how've you been? It seems like forever since we've hung out at all."

"And whose fault is _that_?" Lovino muttered, before catching himself, and turning away, hoping that no one had heard his remark. "Not too bad." He said, much louder.

"Ve… you're right Mateo! We talk in class all the time, but it's never the same, y'know?"

"Exactly. I guess the work loads have gotten a lot heavier lately."

"What're you talking about broski? I don't know about you, but I haven't had homework in weeks." Alfred chimed in.

"That's because you're weird and get it all done in class."

The American grinned again, and turned on the TV. "Don't be jealous 'cause I'm a genius."

"There are many words for what you are Al. Genius definitely isn't one of them."

"Fine, fine. I'll accept brilliant, stupendous, and unbelievably sexy."

"How about stupidly lucky?" Lovino added, handing both brothers a steaming plate, and utensils.

"Hey, you beat me to it." Matthew noted with a grin. "Thanks."

Feliciano hopped into the chair across from Alfred, leaving the other two to share the couch. He was getting to be almost as cunning as Elizaveta sometimes. Or so he thought. Everything was going well for the first half-hour or so, until Matthew's phone vibrated, beginning a whole slew of rapid texts. Ever so slowly, conversation slid to a halt, as Lovino's glare darkened.

"Oi. Didn't your mother ever teach you that it's rude to text when you're someone else's guest?"

The blond blinked in surprise; as if he hadn't even realized what he was doing, and snapped his phone shut immediately. "S-sorry!"

"Geez." He missed the look of concern flash across Feliciano's face as he returned to his meal.

The rest of the visit remained civil, though it was still obvious that Lovino was irritated, all the way up to when they said goodbye, and headed home.

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"So Feli, you've been hanging out with them. How're they getting on? Any sign of another step forward? An impressive leap?"

Feliciano frowned slightly at Elizaveta's question, unsure of how to answer. On one hand, his brother was clearly wanting, and able to be friends with Matthew, but it was the Canadian who'd become a bit distant.

"They kind of switched around." He decided upon. "Mateo's gotten distracted."

"Distracted? You mean like Alfred's dragging him away? Because he's done that before, when he's lonely. But he and Natalya are still going pretty strong. Why on Earth would he be worrying about Matthew at a time like this?"

"No, like…" But he didn't need to answer, as Matthew walked around the corner, and waved when he saw the Italian.

"Morning Feli."

Feliciano waved in return, but it definitely wasn't Matthew who he was looking at specifically.

The expression on Elizaveta's face could only be described as pure horror. Her eyes were locked on Matthew and Ivan's fingers, which were entwined snugly. This wasn't right. This wasn't _her _pair. She had never even considered the possibility of one of them going out with someone else. That just doesn't happen in the mind of Elizaveta Héderváry.

"Ve~! Congrats you two!" Luckily Feliciano was ready to be happy enough for he two of them that Elizaveta's shock wouldn't be as apparent. Kiku didn't say a word, but simply pulled out his cellphone, and snapped a few pictures.

"Why are you doing that?" Mei hissed.

"What does it look like? Once she gets over her shock, she'd be furious that we let this opportunity pass by." He whispered back. "Besides, I've been looking for some new models for our manga."

Mei nodded, and discretely pulled out a small notebook, and began to jot down some ideas. "It's way better with live models, don't you think?"

Kiku didn't answer. Partly because some of the others in the group were beginning to look at the duo strangely, and partly because it was a question that really didn't need to be answered.

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Thanks for reading~!

Sorry for the (almost) lateness! I blame Anime North. But I met J. Micheal Tatum, and he said I was sweet! Twice! My life is almost complete! (You can help completely complete it by reviewing... not subtle enough?)


	14. Tact Isn't in his Vocabulary

When a long weekend rolled around, Matthew, Alfred, and the twins were pretty much the only people they knew who weren't going home to visit, aside from the Braginskis, what with their parents being an ocean away. So they settled for a weekend-long gaming marathon at Alfred's demand. It was a set-up to some quiet time… except for all the yelling of course, but much less stressful than usual.

After giving up on _Left 4 Dead_, (because both Alfred and Feliciano's screaming every time they heard a witch crying was getting on the others' last nerves) they'd agreed on a four-way death match on _C.O.D_. It didn't take Lovino long to figure out why Alfred had been so insistent they play _L4D_ at first.

Matthew was vicious. Once he'd picked a kit with a sniper rifle, Alfred had looked about ready to throw his controller in defeat, but he started the match anyway, and had earned a bullet in the face just moments after start time.

After awhile, the four settled into a pattern. Matthew would snipe Alfred, or occasionally one of the others, and someone else would shoot him from behind while he was distracted. Then Alfred would pause the game for a swig of Coke and to send Natalya yet another text, and they'd start it up again. Conversation was short for the most part, everyone more focussed on bloodily murdering the others, but after awhile they became so used to it that talking became easier.

"So how come you didn't tell us?"

When Matthew looked confused at the question, Lovino raised an eyebrow expectantly, before clarifying. "You're going out with Ivan."

"Yeah?"

"How come you didn't tell Feli and me that you're gay?"

The blond shrugged, and went back to their game, sniping Alfred quickly, and ignoring his loud protest. "It doesn't really come up in conversation that frequently, and 'hey by the way, I like guys' isn't exactly the world's greatest conversation starter either."

"Right…" He felt a little silly for asking now. It seemed pretty obvious that it usually shouldn't be the first thing you find out about somebody.

But as the four of them sat there in the living room of Alfred and Matthew's apartment, the Canadian really seemed no different in his eyes. He was the same shy, yet secretly vicious and somewhat classy teen he'd been the day before. Why should anything change?

"Just in case you thought of asking," Alfred added brightly. "I totally blame the Braginski sisters for why Mattie doesn't like the ladies."

Both twins stared at the American until he'd finally shot Matthew, and continued. "Well, Katyusha nearly smothered him with those big knockers of hers once. As cool as it would be, it was a near-death experience. That'd turn any guy away… except me. I mean… wow, what a way to go."

The other three just started laughing as Alfred continued rambling about his cool it'd be to show up at the pearly gates, and be able to brag to every car-crash and fatal disease victim up there that he got 'boobed' to death, (Alfred's word choice) and formed a silent alliance against him for the rest of the night.

"So what should we play tomorrow? Seeing as we're done with FPS games apparently."

"We've got a few really cool four-players, I'm sure I'll think of something." Alfred muttered with a stretch.

"Actually, I won't be playing for most of the day." Matthew said quietly.

"Oh that's right… you and Ruskie have a date." The American had stopped stretching, and was now looking very putout.

"You don't seem to happy about that." Lovino noted.

"He's worried that I'll marry Ivan, and then he can't marry Natalya because then it'd be almost incest. I've told him at least twenty times that it's too early to be thinking anything like that, but he doesn't believe me."

"It has nothing to do with that! I'd totally marry her anyway! I just don't trust him, that's all."

"Right. And you don't cry every time we watch _Titanic_."

"Cheap shot! It's a damn good movie!"

"Made by a _Canadian_ director."

"With _American _actors!"

"Not all of them!"

"Enough to matter!"

Before the brothers could really get into their favourite argument, Feliciano stood up, tugging at Lovino's sleeve so he would do the same. "We should be heading to bed now. It's kind of late. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. We'll order pizza as soon as I'm back, okay?" Matthew suggested quickly, before turning back to Alfred, and pointing out that all the Titanic victims were sent to Halifax to be identified within the same breath.

{}}{{}

Francis and Antonio walked casually down the street, pretending to be immersed in their conversation, and the girls they'd just walked past, though their attention was on the couple just a few feet ahead of them. They'd volunteered to follow Matthew and Ivan on their date, due to Elizaveta still being in a state of shock, and attempting to calm down enough to create a more rational plan.

Gilbert, on the other hand, was trailing behind them, muttering under his breath about how he was going to murder the commie bastard. He and Ivan had been enemies since kindergarten when he had called the boy fat, and got pushed off the slide as payback. He _really_ didn't want the two together.

"So do you think they'll be together for long?"

"They'd better not be."

"It is hard to tell, _mon ami_. They haven't been together long enough for one to make any such observations."

"_I'll _give that fuckface an observation he'll never forget."

"Gilbert, please! We are trying to help Elizaveta. If you're not going to, I suggest you go home." Francis snapped, the last of his patience drained.

The albino glowered, but didn't retort, and just shoved his hands deeper into his jacket pockets, and kept following the other two.

He pointedly ignored the fact that one of his best friends was holding hands with his mortal enemy, and didn't even make a sound at any of the innocent kissing, or cutesy gestures. Mostly because he didn't want Francis to snap at him again. He always got this 'I can easily snap you in two if you don't shut up' kind of look when he lost his patience, and Gilbert hated seeing it.

"We should go back." Antonio murmured after two hours of walking, and hiding behind hedges near a sidewalk café. "We've got the pictures she and Kiku asked for, so really there's no point in us being…"

"No way." Gilbert snapped. "Lizzie said that she wants a full report on the date, that means everything that happens." He narrowed his ruby eyes at the pair. "Plus, there's no way I'm gonna risk that bastard hurting Birdie!"

The other two sighed, but continued to faithfully follow their companion, questioning his bizarre motives with every step.

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Thanks for reading~!

Head canon: Gilbert never calls Matthew "Birdie" to his face.


	15. It Really is Creepy

"It's making me sick Kiku." Elizaveta growled in an oddly low tone. She was sitting on the end of her bed with a pile of photos in her lap. They were the trio's mission report from Matthew and Ivan's date in town the other day. Well, Antonio's report, really. Gilbert had been so enraged at the idea of 'Birdie' going out with 'that fat fucker' that Francis had had to hold him back from launching an attack at the Russian, which would've turned out to be World War III. There were actually a few pictures of Gilbert's attempts of that.

"I can't stand this."

"What's so wrong with it? As long as they're happy, it shouldn't matter that you were wrong."

"But I wasn't wrong! I can think of a dozen other guys for Ivan that would work way better than this!"

"But are any of them gay?"

The Hungarian turned bright red, and started shuffling through the photos again. "That's not the point. The point is that while there are a lot of other guys for Ivan, there's only one for Lovino, and that's Matt."

"You're forgetting that there are plenty of people outside of this school. What about University? Lovino could meet someone nice there."

"I'm forgetting nothing!" She snapped indignantly. "But what we've got right in our faces is the most perfect pair I've ever come across! This is war here! And it won't end until Matthew is with Lovino!"

Kiku could see where this was going. Once she started a rant, there was no stopping her until she got thirsty or tired. "I've started working on a small manga about Matthew and Ivan to record this-"

"Hand it over."

He complied with an odd smirk. Kiku knew Elizaveta better than anyone else –except, perhaps, Gilbert– and she was a yaoi fan first, and a warrior of love second. Everything else went to the back burner when she had some of her precious material in her hands.

"Hey Kiku?"

"Yes?"

"This is really good."

"_Arigato_."

There was a pause as she continued reading. "Kiku?"

"Yes?"

"I still don't like them together." The statement was so bluntly childish, that he had to stifle a small bubble of laughter.

"Well you'll just have to work harder, won't you?"

"Oh I know. I just thought I'd let you know that stuff like this will be all but forbidden after I finish reading it."

"Understood."

"Kiku?"

"Yes?"

"I've always wondered this. Do legs really bend that way?"

"After all this time, _now_ you begin to question it?"

"Well, I've never really read material for a couple I disapprove of, so it's never been the first thing on my mind. But now… answer the question?"

"I really wouldn't know."

"You never went over that when learning to draw anatomy?"

"It was never really the focus in my art classes. Assume he's double-jointed or something."

"But Matthew isn't double jointed. He's flexible, but not all-out double-jointed."

"Maybe it's the angles that make it look more bendy."

Elizaveta seemed to consider this possibility as she read the last few pages of the mini-comic. "Well, you're the artist. Are the angles different?"

He could've lied. He could've said, 'yes, it's the angle.' But where would the fun be in that? "No. It's no different to any other side angle I've ever used. But I think we can just call this a willing-suspension of disbelief."

"I didn't think that applied to yaoi…"

"It applies to all works of fiction."

"Well it looks… kind of creepy, actually." She squinted, and flipped the book on its side for a different view, but just ended up pushing it aside anyway. "But you've gotten even better since I last saw your work. I really think you've got a good shot at the art school you were looking at."

"I hope so."

"No, really! I mean, you probably aren't allowed to put stuff like this in your portfolio, but if your other media have improved this much, the other applicants won't stand a chance."

Again, Kiku thanked her, but then in the silence, Elizaveta's gaze fell back to the photos.

"What're we going to do about them?"

He shrugged, and reached for some of the pictures. "Same thing we always do, I suppose."

"Try to take over the world?" The grin that she flashed him quickly faded when he looked at her questioningly.

"Huh?"

"Never mind. I forget that you never even watched imported cartoons as a kid."

"My apologies."

"It's not really your fault. Your parents were just incredibly traditional."

"True. But I have been watching several western cartoons. They just seem a lot less… stable."

"Plot-driven?"

"That's the word."

"Well…" She shuffled through the photos in hand, wincing at how shaky Antonio's hand was when it came to this sort of thing. The blur was incredible "American kids have short attention spans. I doubt they could last five minutes of plot-driven anime."

A muffled knock echoed from the front door into the bedroom, and they both looked up with a start. It didn't take long for the polite knock to evolve into an impatient pounding.

"He does realize it's open, right?"

"It's Gilbert you're talking about. Who knows what information he retains."

It took a few minutes, but Gilbert did indeed realize that he could've opened the door anytime he wanted, and burst into the apartment. "So! Lizzie! What's the plan for operation: Get Birdie the Hell Away From Braginski? It's something good, right? Something that'll tear the asshole's heart right out if he even has one, right?"

"Gilbert." Elizaveta sighed, pulling herself to the edge of her bed to stare blankly at him. "There's no plan."

"…What?"

"Getting Matthew and Lovino together is one thing. But I _can't_ knowingly break up two people who seem pretty happy together. As much as I agree with you that it's not quite right, it would make me a complete bitch to break two hearts for the sake of our mission."

Gilbert's face seemed to crumble at her words. "But…you're already a bitch, so it doesn't matter, right?"

"No, Gilbert. We're going to continue observations, and let their relationship run its course. That's all we can do."

"But Lizzie, you're the one who said that this operation…"

"Forget what I said. We'll discuss this later."

He stood frozen in the doorway for a minute, as if considering that continuing the argument to be a good idea. But eventually, he nodded, and left the apartment.

"Why do you always bother him so?" Kiku asked once the front door had closed. "He would be eager to help out."

"Well it's partially true. I'm not going to interfere with Ivan and Matthew's relationship. But…" Elizaveta looked up at her friend with a sly gleam in her eyes. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to try to convince Lovi to interfere himself." She flipped open her phone, and called Antonio.

"_Hello?_"

"Hey Toni! Got any ideas of how to get Lovi to do something without asking him to?"

"_Hmm… Just one. Hold on a moment _senorita._ I'll need to pull out my special Lovi-proof plans_."

"Knew I could count on you Toni! You're the best!"

After some careful planning, she hung up, and grinned at Kiku. "Better start redrawing that comic! Because you'll have two new models in no time."

"Of course." And at the sight of Elizaveta's triumphant expression, another thought flashed across his mind. 'I wonder if she knows just how creepy most outsiders would find what she does. She could go to prison for such misunderstandings...'

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Thanks for reading~!

Wasn't going to keep this chapter because it's fillery. But it'll make for a better transition into the next chapter time-passing-wise.

Anyway, have you guys noticed that the site now lets you upload images as story covers? I think it's a pretty cool idea, and I'd love to have one for this story, (and all the other ones too, but that's besides the point) and I am lacking in 90% of artistic skills. I'd love you guys forever and stuff if you've got the time for something…

Okay I'm done pestering you guys. Bye!


	16. Being a Shoulder to Cry On

As it turns out, all of Elizaveta's preparations, and Gilbert's panic had been pointless.

Ivan broke up with Matthew on November 29th, at the entrance to the arts building. He'd been looking horribly indifferent about the whole thing, and he almost seemed distracted by something in the second floor window. After he was finished, he'd kissed the Canadian on his cheek once, and turned to walked away without another word or a second glance.

How did Lovino know all of this? Because Matthew had relayed every detail of the break-up to him between mouthfuls of vanilla ice cream almost completely drowned in maple syrup. And by the end of the evening, the two-litre tub of ice cream was empty, and Lovino was ready to either kill Ivan, or himself.

"I don't know what I did wrong." He wailed for the eleventh time. "Everything was going so well." (That was the thirteenth time he'd said that)

"Mateo, I really don't think it's anything you did wrong. That Braginski's just a sadistic asshole who enjoys hurting people in every way he can."

"But he wasn't. When we were together, he didn't hurt anyone. He was so careful, and-"

"And nothing. The guy's an idiot, okay? Just move on." Lovino grumbled with a yawn.

"It was so close to Christmas too…" Matthew sighed finally, and Lovino snapped.

"Get up!"

"Huh?"

"Don't you 'huh?' me _idiota_! Get up and clean up! I swear if I hear one more pitiful word about that _bastardo_ out of your mouth, I'm going to go kill you both! Go get changed and then come right back here! We're going drinking."

The Canadian squeaked out a protest about not being old enough, as he was pushed over to his bedroom.

"_Cazzo_! We're not in your precious homeland anymore; the drinking age is 16 here, remember? At least for beer, and if we need the harder stuff, me and Feliciano have lots, so let's move!"

Matthew gave up on arguing, and just sniffled, and started rummaging through drawers. He emerged in clean, dark jeans, and a red t-shirt, finger-coming his hair. Lovino was only mildly surprised that he didn't question his statement about the harder alcohol. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"You're damn right I'm sure!" He wrapped one arm around Matthew's shoulders, and began leading him towards the door. "You are depressed in a way that not even your precious pancakes can save. So what you need right now is to get out of that apartment before you kill yourself. Now grab your coat."

"Relax, I'm not going to kill myself."

"That's not the point of our expedition."

"_Expedition_? Okay, now you sound like Al."

Lovino looked deeply offended at that. "Hey. I at least tried to talk about your feelings like a damn therapist first. Your dumbass of a brother would've taken you out drinking as plan A."

Finally, Matthew cracked a weak smile, and nodded. "You've got me there."

"Of course I do!"

He led the blond out of the apartment, and down the stairs to the parking lot. "We'll take my car."

"N-no that's okay. I'll drive." Matthew stammered. There were still images of the drive to the beach flashing through his mind, and none of them were even remotely pleasant.

Lovino gave him a blank look, and continued towards his car. "No way. If all goes well, you won't be in any condition to drive home, okay?"

"B-but your driving…"

"Is there something wrong with my driving?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in the reply. "Yes there's a lot wrong with your driving. You never follow the speed limit-"

"Didn't Feli tell you? Those are just guidelines."

"You never signal."

"Who needs to signal when there's no one around you?"

"For God's sake you don't even have a full license!"

They'd arrived at the car, and Lovino swung the passenger side door open, and held it there like a footman. "Do you really care? I'm capable of driving, what more do you want?"

There was a moment's pause, before Matthew slid into the seat. "At least do something close to the limit."

But Lovino was already smirking too widely when he shut the door, and walked over to the other side. "Not a chance."

{}}{{}

When they arrived at a nearby bar, there were indents in the seat where Matthew's nails had dug into the leather. "You're insane."

"I prefer talented, myself, but I'll take insane. Ah! _Cazzo_! Look what you did to the leather!"

"I regret nothing."

He was a little surprised to recognize most of the people in the building as other students. There were even a few names he could put to their faces. Laura Baern was at a table with Antonio, and Mei Chen was sitting at the bar with a couple friends. He was happy to see that none of the Braginski siblings were there, and relaxed visibly at that.

"Come on, let's go get something in you to make you feel better."

"Alcohol's a depressant Lovino. I thought it made you feel worse."

"And it's saying things like that, that will just make me buy you another drink."

They sat down at a table, and showed their student I.D. cards to the waitress, who left, and returned with a pitcher, and a pair of mugs. After filling them both, Lovino held his up. "Here's to being done with that asshole."

"Cheers." Matthew mumbled without any enthusiasm before tipping his head back to take a drink. "Thanks for doing this, by the way."

"No problem. But how come you called me of all people? You know I suck at being comforting. Actually, I'm surprised you don't feel _worse_ by this point."

The Canadian shrugged weakly, and took another drink. "I couldn't think of anyone else who would listen. Alfred would've been playing video games, and not really listening, and Gilbert isn't much better, and I can't exactly talk to Katyusha about her brother. I could've offended her."

"What about some of your other friends?"

"I don't really have that many others…"

They both fell silent, and Lovino could feel the awkward levels rising as he looked for something to say. He hadn't been lying when he'd said that he was lousy at listening, and giving advice. So he settled for topping up Matthew's glass and changing the subject. "So what're your plans for Christmas break? Heading back to Canada? Or are you getting as far away from snow as you can?"

"Actually, our parents are going to be in Tokyo on business, so Al and I were thinking of staying here for the holidays. Arthur and Francis usually do the same, so we'll still be with family."

Lovino stared at him over the rim of his mug in disbelief. "Are you shitting me? You honestly _want _to stay here for an extra three weeks?"

Matthew shrugged, and took another gulp. "Not really. I mean Europe is great and all, but I really love seeing _Vielle-Québec_ all lit up when it's snowing. The little church in the main square gets all decked out, and the stairwell has this gorgeous view of the harbour, and of course the _Chateau Frontenac _gets lit up like a Christmas tree. It's beautiful, really. But there's no point in going home if our family isn't. Papa did say that he'd try to finish in time to take us to Montreal for New Year's."

"Well that'll work out perfectly then."

"What will?"

"You and your brother should come spend Christmas with me and Feliciano in Venice. Nonno always takes care of us for Christmas, and then our parents get New Year's, but they're not exactly fun to celebrate around. So you come with us for the first half of the break, and we'll tag along with you for the last half."

"R-really? You're sure that's okay?"

"Absolutely. Besides, they're both so happy-go-lucky I could shoot myself and it wouldn't bring down their mood, so really, you'd be doing me a favour."

"Well we can't have you going and killing yourself if I'm not allowed to, can we?" Matthew replied with a chuckle. Lovino was suddenly very proud of himself for being able to make the guy who'd been a sobbing wreck only about ten minutes ago, laugh. Maybe he wasn't so bad at being comforting after all.

"So it's a plan?"

"Definitely."

Just as he spoke, the front door swung open with a heavy bang, and Elizaveta Héderváry hurried over to where Mei was sitting. The two instantly began conversing in hushed tones.

"I swear that woman is on something." Lovino muttered as he watched them absently, more to himself than to Matthew. "No normal person makes that kind of an entrance unless they're in a bad western."

"So she's a little over-enthusiastic, there's nothing really wrong with that."

"A _little_?" He stared at the blond incredulously. "If she's a _little _over-enthusiastic, then my _Fratello_ is a _little_ bit of an _idiota_. She's insane, and there's no other explanation for it."

He really couldn't think of anything to say to that, and just slipped into a calm silence, broken by the loud music, and the other patrons around them.

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Thanks for reading~!

I really don't think I believe Google's translation of idiot. As far as I know, if it ends in an 'a', then it's feminine, and 'o' is more masculine, so Lovino should be calling guys 'idioto' but I don't want to question it and be wrong… help?"

Also, thank you, thank you, thank you to Soulshifter98 who offered to make a cover. You're my new best friend!


	17. Okay NOW it's Time for Mistletoe

The Christmas dance (officially called the 'Winter Ball' so that no one would be offended) was definitely the most formal event of the school year. Regardless of how loud and teenagery the students were, they were still mostly from well-to-do families, and were required to be capable of attending formal parties like this. Of course, there were always kids who either weren't from wealthy families, and were just exceptionally gifted and therefore weren't used to these events, or those like Gilbert, who really didn't give two shits.

But they were a minority; so on with the fancy parties they went, only a few days before the students were released to go home for the holidays.

Matthew and Alfred showed up in the doorway in matching tuxes, and quickly pulled up one of the larger tables to wait for the rest of their group. Natalya was the next to arrive, in a sleek, icy-blue gown, and she greeted Alfred with a kiss before taking her seat.

Arthur and Francis appeared only a few minutes later, and Alfred waved them over excitedly. Arthur attempted to make a dash for the table where his band-mates were, only for Francis to grab his collar and drag him to sit with their cousins.

"Hey Artie! Getting any gigs? Or has the entire city realized how much you guys suck?"

"Belt up you daft sod!" The older teen snapped.

"Oooh! Three British slang insults in one sentence! Artie, you're way too stereotypical for your own good."

"Says the idiotic _child_ who spends more time in McDonald's than Francis does in the bathroom."

"You are just jealous that I have such amazing hair that it requires the most tender care, _mon cousin_."

"Ugh. Please stop reminding me that we're related."

"If I must. But you all must excuse me for awhile, while I fetch myself a lovely date for this evening." And with a wink, the Frenchman disappeared into the crowds of students.

"God he's disgusting." Arthur muttered, sitting down beside Matthew. "Who else are you expecting? There _are _tables for four around you know. We don't need to have a seat for the blasted frog."

"The Vargas twins." Alfred answered. "Mattie's been hanging out with them a lot."

"Is that so? Well this should be an interesting evening. But that still only gives us seven, even with that idiot. Who's the eighth place for?"

"Feli's bringing a date."

"No, seriously."

"Seriously! He won't tell us who it is though."

"He didn't tell you?" Natalya asked, clearly fighting a knowing smile. "Well then this will certainly be interesting."

"You know her?"

"Perhaps. Or perhaps I'm just better at noticing things than you are."

"Come on sweetie! Tell me who it is!"

As if on cue, the twins walked up to the table, and Feli was indeed, arm in arm with a girl.

"Lily Zwingli?" Alfred gasped, mouth hanging agape. "How the hell did your brother agree to something like this? I thought he was more over-protective than a bear!"

The blonde turned red and ducked her head. "He's not that bad most of the time."

"Let me guess, you have a curfew?"

Her face turned an even darker shade as she replied, "nine. But we have a long drive home tomorrow, so it makes sense."

"Fair enough, especially for Vash. I thought it'd be something closer to... now."

"Hey, did you see a menu at all? I really hope there's pasta!"

"Of course you do. And no, I saw just as much of the non-existent menu as you did. We walked in together, remember?"

"Well, yeah but you never know…"

Conversation broke up into smaller groups as they all sat down, and quieted even more considerably once the food arrived. To Feliciano's delight, there was indeed an option of pasta on the menu. Not two hours had passed, and the plates were whisked away, replaced with dessert menus, and the band began to play.

Alfred was quick to finish his dessert, and then stood up, offering his arm to Natalya, who shook her head slowly before bringing a napkin to his chocolate-stained mouth before allowing him to lead her out. Feliciano and Lily were next, and followed suit, and Francis and Arthur had disappeared halfway through the meal, probably to brawl out in the parking lot again.

And then there were two.

{}}{{}

"Hey is that any good?"

Lovino looked up to Matthew, who was staring curiously at the torte on the plate. "Hell yeah it's good. For a German cake that is, but it _is_ good."

"Mind if I try?"

"Go ahead."

Matthew's fork having been already swept away by one of the servers, Lovino took his own, and speared a small piece before holding it out for the Canadian to eat. Just as his lips closed around it, he could've sworn he heard a high-pitched squeal, but it was cut short, as if it never happened.

"Yeah! That's really good! I'll have to see if I can get the recipe."

"You bake?" Lovino asked with a snort. As if the kid couldn't get any _girlier_.

"A little. Mostly I just help my mom out. She's the one who really likes baking."

"Whatever you say…"

"Why is that so hard to believe?"

"I didn't say it was!"

Several tables over, Francis and Gilbert still had their hands clamped over Mei and Elizaveta's mouths respectively. "Would you be more careful?" Gilbert snapped, pulling his hand away at last.

"But… but they were… it was so cute!" The younger brunette protested in a loud whisper.

"Keep it in your pants for shit's sake!"

Elizaveta glared at him, but didn't say anything else, and went back to her dessert, ears still pealed for any sign of the two getting closer.

"Did you place the mistletoe?" Mei asked quietly, as if speaking any louder would make someone slap a hand over her mouth again.

"Yeah, me and Lizzie found a great spot this afternoon. There's no way they'll be able to avoid it."

"Aren't you worried about someone else getting him under it first?"

"Like who?"

"I dunno, like _her_, maybe?" She pointed over to the table, where a lanky blonde was boldly approaching. They all recognized her to be Johana, one of the previous members of the YFA who'd opposed Elizaveta's 'rule' from the beginning. Then again, she made it her hobby to oppose everything she could. She'd once led a group of other students against the school's decision to make English its primary language in classes, and still spoke in either French or Italian all the time, refusing to adapt.

"_Ti piace ballare, Lovino_?" She asked brightly. Even now, she stuck to Italian, possibly to impress the guy she was asking.

"I don't dance." He replied bluntly. Her smile faltered at his language choice, which made him sound even angrier at her request.

"Oh go ahead Lovi. Where's the fun in these kinds of functions if you don't dance?" Matthew prodded with a smirk.

With a glare, Lovino got to his feet, and allowed himself to be dragged over to the dance floor. "_Merci beaucoup, Mathieu!_"

"She's doing it on purpose!" Elizaveta growled. "She knew that I wanted them together, so she's going to try and get Lovi for herself, _just_ to keep them apart…"

"That stupid... trilingual bitch." Gilbert muttered, even before the brunette beside him could do so. "Come on Lizzie, let's go dance too. We'll try to keep them apart."

"Good plan… for an ass like yourself that is."

He took her hand, and led her over to the dance floor, where Johana and Lovino were already moving suspiciously close to the doorway where the mistletoe was perched.

"She knows exactly what she's doing…" Elizaveta murmured in horror. "Come on, try and cut them off."

"Why do _I _have to?"

"You're the one leading, moron. Do you want me to?"

"Hell no! Just… let me do the thinking, would you?" He lengthened his strides with the beat, and waltzed them both over to the doorway, effectively cutting the other two off from the intended path.

As hoped, the minute Lovino caught sight of the Hungarian, he frowned, and turned Johana in the opposite direction.

"Perfect timing Gil."

"Well of course it is! I'm pretty damn awesome!"

"Alright, just keep your head in the game. She might have allies of her own who'll try this again."

But Gilbert was a bit too distracted at how closely his friend had begun to cling to him in her panic to beat the other two there. It was really warm.

{}}{{}

True to Elizaveta's prediction, Lovino ended up spending the rest of the night being pursued by ex-YFA members, while Matthew just laughed from the table, finishing off his friend's torte as he did so.

"You're a prick." The Italian muttered, glowering at the now-empty plate. "Leave me to get chased around like a headless chicken, _and_ eat my cake."

"I'll make you another, promise."

"Whatever. Could we just head out, before another one of them tries?"

"I have to stay in case Alfred gets too drunk."

"Oh his girlfriend will take care of that, I just need to get out of here."

"Then go ahead. I won't be lonely or anything."

"The whole point of this night was to _not_ leave you alone at all."

"Relax Lovino. I'm fine. If you're done celebrating a day that's still a week away, then you can go join Feli at the apartment."

"Alright, alright. Just make sure that _idiota _doesn't end up doing something especially stupid."

"Deal. Here, I'll at least walk to the door with you."

"Oh _grazie. _Because I'm completely incapable of finding an exit on my own. I'm just so lucky to have your brilliant powers of observation on my side."

"Glad you see it my way."

As they headed for the door, Alfred sprinted up from the dance floor to clap his brother on the shoulder. "Hey Mattie! I'm spending the night at Natalya's, so you're on your own, okay bro?"

Matthew looked stunned at his brother's impeccable timing for only a moment. "Yeah… sure." When he turned back to Lovino, he was mildly annoyed at the smirk adorning his olive face. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be heading out now too I suppose."

"I'll walk you to the door."

As they passed beneath an archway, there was another shrill squeal, and this time, Lovino's gaze caught the culprit, a younger girl, who met his gaze, and winked before looking up. He followed her gaze until…

"Oh you have _got _to be kidding me!" He groaned, staring in disbelief at the tiny sprig of green leaves and red berries above them. After all the girls whom he'd dodged while going through doors, how could he have dropped his guard just because he was with Matthew?

"Don't worry about it. I'm not going to get offended just because you don't want to kiss me!" The blond said with a chuckle.

"Here. Just in case the pervert's watching somewhere." And he looked around before quickly planting a kiss on Matthew's cheek. He could feel his entire face tingle strangely at the small contact.

Matthew turned away down the hall to hide his blushing face. "Let's go then! Feli might get worried if we don't show up soon." He said as 'normally' as possible.

If Lovino thought that something was strange, he didn't show it, just ruffled the blond's curly hair, and then stuffed his hands in his pockets. "God forbid Feliciano be _worried_!"

"But when he panics, it's kind of scary to see…"

"I'm used to it."

"Well I'm not."

"Trust me, you'll be there soon."

Elizaveta leaned in the doorway with a dreamy grin on her face as her new favourite boys continued along. Her camera was slung around her neck, and still warm in her grip from the insane burst of clicking. "Well-played there Gilbert. I have to admit, I couldn't have placed that better."

"Of course you couldn't, you're only half as awesome as I am!" He cackled, swinging into view beside her. "Which, I hate to admit it, is still pretty damn awesome."

"What're you-?" She was cut off as the older teen kissed her with a loud smack, and came back grinning.

"Merry Christmas Lizzie!"

Gilbert woke up the next morning sore, and bruised from the beating he took from Elizaveta's fists. It was well worth it in his opinion.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Translations:

_Ti piace ballare – _would you like to dance?

_Merci beaucoup – _thank you so much!


	18. Under a Suspicious Gaze

"Al, did you pack your gifts for everyone?" Matthew shouted from his room, hoping that his brother didn't have headphones in.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Did you remember your toothbrush? You always forget it."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Is your room void of garbage? It'll reek when we get back."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Did you tell Arthur and Francis we're not going to be here for the break?"

A thick pause settled around the apartment for a moment. "Um… Halo is very distracting bro. You shouldn't tell me to do things when I'm playing it."

The Canadian sighed, and heaved himself off of the bed. "I'll go tell them now. You want to come wish your cousins a Merry Christmas?"

"Artie's gonna find some excuse to punch my face! And contrary to popular belief, I don't _like_ being punched in the face."

"I never would've guessed. I'll let him know for you."

"You're just so precious bro! What would I do without you?"

He smirked on his way out the door, catching the massive plastic shopping bag with gifts for Francis and Arthur as he went. "Get punched in the face. What else?"

Arthur lived down on the ground floor with his roommate, and band's drummer, Tino, who was already home in Finland, leaving the Brit alone until January. As for Francis, Matthew wasn't entirely sure where he lived. He was in and out of so many other people's apartments that it was hard to keep track of which one was actually his. In Alfred's words, 'you don't find Francis. Francis finds _you_ when he needs you. Like Kurtz.' (His _Apocalypse Now_ privilages had been in question ever since)

"Oi. Matt. You need something?"

Arthur now leaned in the doorway, looking up at Matthew expectantly.

"R-right. I told Al to tell you, but…"

"He's an idiot. Go on."

"Well, we've been invited to spend Christmas with Feli and Lovino in Italy, and then we're all headed to Montreal for New Years'."

"Oh. Well then I suppose you'll be leaving me with the frog for a few weeks."

"I'm sorry! I really wasn't thinking when I agreed…"

"Don't worry about it Matthew, really. I put up with the walking libido for years; I really don't mind spending the holidays around him. He somehow calms down when there's a distinct lack of holes for him to pounce upon."

"Okay. Well, that's good… if not slightly disturbing. Here are the gifts from us, as well as mom and dad." He passed Arthur the bag loaded with brightly wrapped parcels with a sheepish smile, as if still embarrassed about leaving them behind.

"Thanks. I think you've already got yours. Call when you get in, alright?"

"Deal. Have a great break!"

"You too. Happy Christmas!"

{}}{{}

"Mei, our little birds are finally going to flap their wings and fly all by themselves." Elizaveta sighed happily.

"How many pet names do you have for those two?" Mei asked, watching her friend's excitement curiously.

"Hm… lost count. So, are you as ready for a break from everything as I am?"

"Absolutely. The whole club thing on top of school really took its toll."

"Really? Thought you'd be used to it after last year."

"Last year there were about twenty of us."

"Right… Well, hopefully there'll be even more next year."

"You really think that you can get new helpers without it being an official club?"

"We fuel every yaoi fangirl's dreams into reality. Build it, Mei, and they _will_ come. It might take a little while, but they'll come out of the woodwork." Elizaveta promised.

"Sure they will."

She stretched, and started towards the dorms. "I've got to go pack. In case I'm gone before you wake up, have a great break Liz."

"You too."

"Héderváry!"

Elizaveta winced at the sound of the principal's voice. "Yes sir?"

"Do you remember the discussion you and I had several months ago about your former club's shameful actions?"

"Yes."

"And do you recall what the penalty would be if I caught you continuing with them?"

_Who's the stalker now, asshole? _"I remember." She replied sweetly, hoping that her venomous thoughts weren't coming through in her voice at all.

"Then what _exactly_ were you and Miss Chen discussing before now?"

_How to kill you in your sleep. _She thought acidly"Plans for the Christmas break. She _is_ my friend, Mr. Vale. Club or not."

He paused for a moment, and Elizaveta thought he was just going to leave it at that, frustrated that he couldn't call her out on it. But then he went on, "You seem distracted, Héderváry. Not plotting on how to get around me, are you?" Well, it appeared that he wasn't as stupid as he acted.

"No sir." _Just mentally slitting my wrists, nothing to worry about._

The principal didn't look like he believed her, but he didn't question it any further. "Have a nice break. And watch your step."

"You too." She replied, meaning both.

{}}{{}

"He's been watching us, I swear he's around every corner." Elizaveta muttered around a mouthful of Cheerios. Mei was sitting at the other end of the counter, nodding slowly.

"He _has _been wandering the halls a lot more lately."

"He probably thinks he can catch us in the act between now and Christmas so he won't have to worry about expelling us closer to exams."

"Why would that make a difference?"

"There are some theories that schools expel students that aren't doing very well before exams to bump up the average. It would really suck for him if we got expelled, seeing as we do really well in class."

"Wouldn't he want to expel us after exams then?"

"…What have I told you about shooting holes in my logic Mei?"

The younger girl just laughed, and continued eating her cereal. Elizaveta rolled her eyes at the reaction, and returned to the novel in her hand. She had a long to-read list for over the break, and figured she'd get a good head start.

The sound of a car horn outside the apartment building alerting them both, and Mei almost dropped her spoon. "Oh shoot!"

"Is that your dad?"

"Probably! I'm in a world of trouble! I forgot to get Xiang ready!"

"Are you really your brother's keeper?"

"Not funny Liz. Dad wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, and Xiang is probably still sleeping, the lazy slug!"

Elizaveta still chuckled, though she did run and grab Mei's suitcase while the other girl desperately raced across the parking lot to wake up her brother, hoping that her father wouldn't notice her.

She'd just disappeared into her brother's apartment when her father arrived at hers, where Elizaveta answered it quickly. "Good morning Mr. Chen."

"Good morning. Is my daughter here?"

"Uh… nope! She went to get Xiang ready a while ago. Want me to load up her suitcase while you're waiting?"

"No. No I'll get it. Thank you for offering though."

Elizaveta was slightly relieved that Mr. Chen was stubborn when it came to men doing all the hard labour. It would buy Mei and Xiang a few precious minutes before their father came pounding on the door for them to hurry.

Mei flew out of the apartment, barely allowing Xiang time to lock the door. The boy's thick eyebrows furrowed in irritation at his sleep being interrupted.

"Good morning father! Sorry about the delay." The girl apologized breathlessly.

"No harm done." He replied shortly. "Get in you two. We've got a flight."

"Right. Goodbye Liz!"

"Have fun!"

She watched the car pull away from the school before turning back to her files stacked neatly on the desk. "Take a break boys. You've still got a long road ahead of you." She murmured, fondly patting the small tower.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Ah! So much needs to be crammed into the next chapter! You might be spoiled with a really long one next week. It's 7 pages already, and I'm feeling at least two more are on the way.

Also, Happy birthday Canada! The one day a year I can be a pyro and no one questions it! :D


	19. Christmas in Venice

"Are you two ready to go or not?" Lovino shouted once again, pounding on the door of the twins' apartment. There was nothing but silence from the other side. "Lazy bastards, probably still sleeping." He muttered, reaching for the handle. He was a bit surprised to find it unlocked. That meant at least one of them had to be awake.

Muffled laughter met his ears, coming from Alfred's bedroom. On one hand, he was glad they were awake, so he wouldn't have to hurry them along. But on the other, he was annoyed that they were having such a good time while he was stuck dreading hours and hours in a train with two - maybe three depending on how blond Matthew was feeling - complete morons.

"Come on you two, the train leaves in two hours, so we'd better get to the station soon." He snapped, barging into the bedroom. "And what's so damn funny?"

"Oh hey Lovi." Matthew greeted, though his voice was still breathy from laughing. "Sorry, Alfred just…" He quickly fell into another bout of laughter. "He said you'd be a perfect candidate for the Evil Baby Orphanage!"

It was a very blond day, he decided with a miniscule sigh.

"The what now?" But neither brother was really listening anymore. Matthew was laughing his head off, and Alfred was the one looking annoyed for once.

"It's really not that funny broski." Alfred muttered as he zipped his suitcase closed.

"But you just sounded so serious! It was awesome!"

"What the hell is this evil baby thing?"

"It's an orphanage where you take all the villains from history as babies, there's time-travel involved, by the way, and then you raise them in this orphanage to be awesome members of society instead of mass-murderers or Nazis."

"That… is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. Get your suitcases."

"Oh come on Lovino!" Matthew called after him. "You're just mad 'cause Alfred thinks you're evil!"

"No, I'm mad because we're going to be late soon! _Vieni_!"

"Yeah, yeah. We're coming!"

Despite Lovino's griping, they weren't late for the train. In fact, they were two hours early. Matthew had hoped that the driving would almost be worth the terror for him to know that he couldn't be half has frightened as Alfred, who was experiencing the speed for the first time.

He was unfortunately disappointed. He'd neglected to take into account that they wouldn't be able to leave the car anywhere for the weeks they'd be gone, and took a cab instead. And unlike Lovino, the driver was remarkably privy to speed limits.

Despite that minor setback, it was an enjoyable trip, and Feliciano's near-constant chatter made the time glide by along the tracks.

"And Nonno will be waiting for us at the station! He's got such a nice car, there'll be tons of space for the bags, but I don't mind sitting with the luggage if there aren't enough seats…"

"Feli, you know there's enough room."

"_Sí_, but wouldn't it be so much fun to bounce around with the suitcases."

"Until you hit your head off the window of something."

"Well then I'll just tie pillows to my head! Ludwig says I should do that all the time just in case."

"Well what do you know, the potato-guzzling _bastardo_ isn't a complete moron. That's not a bad idea."

"_Fratello_, stop saying bad things about Ludwig! He's never done anything to you!"

"He annoys me, do I need another reason?"

"Drop it Lovi."

Alfred jumped a bit at the chill that crept into Feliciano's voice when he spoke. Matthew was fairly shocked as well, but Lovino's mouth barely curved any further down, and he nodded. "Well we should be arriving in about an hour more."

They all silently agreed to spend the rest of the trip being anti-social, to avoid stepping on toes that were going to be around for the next two weeks without fail.

{}}{{}

Lovino and Feliciano's _Nonno_ was a large, jovial man who looked at least twenty years younger than he should. When they'd gotten off the train, he'd torn through the crowds like a hurricane toward the twins, and pulled them into a crushing embrace, followed by a kiss on each cheek. They spoke in rapid Italian for a moment before Lovino laughed – yes, a genuine laugh that left Matthew gaping in surprise – and pointed to the teens behind him. The man beamed again, just as brilliantly for these strangers as he had for his own kin, and now wrapped the two of them into a similar hug.

Matthew gasped as oxygen vacated his lungs, and was replaced with some strong cologne, and decided right away that he liked this wild, overly affectionate mountain of a grandfather.

"You boys must be starving! Come on, my car's just outside." At the sound of his crazy-stereotypical accent, Matthew dared a glance at Alfred, who was probably thinking the same thing he was. _'Please let this guy's name be Mario'_. Because it was almost the same voice as their childhood Italian's, only several octaves lower.

"So what do you do sir?" He just had to ask, seeing as everyone at school seemed convinced that the man was some mafia crime-lord. The stories didn't seem to match up with the grinning man before him.

"Oh please! Just call me _Nonno_. All of the kids in the town do."

"O-okay."

"I'm retired. But I still sell my paintings around town."

"What are you retired from?"

"Business."

Matthew grimaced at that. Too suspicious. Only made worse when Feliciano quickly changed the subject. "Ve! Mateo, he taught me everything I know about drawing! He's the best in the whole world!"

"Aw Feli, you flatterer!" He squeezed his grandson's shoulders affectionately while Lovino and Matthew loaded up the car, and Alfred hopped into the passenger's seat. The drive up to the house was just over half and hour from the airport, having to get a fair distance from the town.

The Vargas' summer villa stood alone on a long stretch of dirt road. It could've been paved, but none of the owners had ever seen a reason to, and liked the rural appeal too much. The gardens that swept around the wide brick home were filled with all sorts of blossoms for which Matthew had no names.

"Feli! Why don't you show your guests to their rooms? Your brother and I will get the luggage."

"Hey don't worry about it! I'll take care of those!" Alfred insisted, already reaching for two suitcases and raising them to his shoulders with ease. "Lead the way Feli!"

"Yeah, it's right over here…"

"Lovino, I wasn't going to say anything when we arrived because I didn't want to sound ungrateful or anything, but… are most Christmases here this… green?" Matthew whispered as he pulled his suitcase out of the trunk.

"And you were expecting something else?" The Italian replied blankly. "Think for a second about where you are, and then tell me if you still expect seven feet of snow."

"Well, I wasn't anticipating _lots_, but even a little bit would be nice."

"Get used to disappointment."

"I won't be for long."

"What're you going on about now?"

"Anticipating next week."

Lovino paused comically mid-step as the realization hit him. "Next week as in… Canada."

"Oh Lovi, have you never been to the Great White North?" He asked in mock-surprise. "Well then I suppose I should warn you that the polar bears can smell fresh blood. And they especially love prey that eats tomatoes a lot."

"You spend way too much time around your brother."

"We're related. Spending time around each other sort of happens as a by-product of that."

Still silently mourning the green Christmas that lay before him, Matthew followed Lovino into the three-story house that he'd be willing to call a manor.

The walls and banisters were already decked out for Christmas, everything a cheery red, silver, or green, except for the odd bobble of an unfortunate shade of orange. "The bitch-queen says it's 'the new colour of the season'." Lovino explained.

"Don't call _momma _that Lovi! You promised!" Feliciano called from upstairs.

"Okay! Fine!" He shouted back. "Anyway, she insists on decorating _Nonno_'s house every holiday, and there's always some new bizarre trend she picked up in Australia or something."

"I don't think anything from Australia could be this terrifying." Matthew muttered, flinching away from another blinding ho-ho-horror. "And that's saying something."

"At least this stuff won't eat your face off."

"I'm not too sure about that… Some of those Santas look downright lethal."

"Only when they smell maple syrup."

"Hey! Stop stealing my jokes!"

"Like they're that funny to begin with."

The two picked their way through the holidayed maze up to the second floor, and through a white door to an airy bedroom mercifully clear of grinning Santas or orange tinsel. "Bathroom's the next door on your left, holler if you need anything."

"Thanks."

{}}{{}

It didn't take long to start calling the twins' grandfather Nonno as he insisted. He was a lot like an older Feliciano in how quickly he familiarized with people around him, and did indeed feel like their third grandfather by the end of the second day in Venice.

As Christmas day neared, Matthew and Feliciano started making frequent trips to town for last-minute presents. Most of the stores had been almost completely picked over, promising empty shelves until after the holiday, but Feli was determined to hunt down the perfect present for his brother. And of course, no matter how many times he thought about doing the shopping while still at school, he'd put it off until the last minute.

"He likes old gangster movies, especially fifties ones." The Italian had mused aloud while scanning the barren racks of an extensive movie store. "But I can never find them in stores… I don't know where he keeps on finding them."

"You probably should've ordered them online then. You're never going to find something that old in a store like this." He waved one arm around the new-age space, displaying only the newest releases. The only things older than 2005 that would ever be found in a place like it were "classics" and their inevitable remakes.

"Ve… you're right. But I wouldn't know what one to get him anyway. Let's see if there's any pillows or something next door he'd like!"

With one last glance at the modern-movie utopia, Matthew filed away this new knowledge in the back of his mind. Who knows what might be useful someday?

"You coming Mateo?"

"Yeah! Hang on!"

{}}{{}

"Mattie! Mattie! Mattie! C'mon man, don't do this to me! Matt! Get up! Mattie! It's Christmas!" Alfred glared at Matthew, who was still stubbornly sleeping despite his brother now sitting on top of his chest.

"Hey _stupido_! What's taking so long?" Lovino called from the hallway.

"Ask Sleeping Beauty over here! He's always a pain to wake up, even on Christmas morning. I swear, he sleeps later than some old people."

"Here, let me take a shot at it."

With a shrug, Alfred rolled off of the bed, and stepped aside for the Italian to attempt the impossible. He leaned over the blond, and took hold of his nose with long fingers, and waited a few moments.

It was almost instantaneous. Matthew's mouth snapped open to gasp, and he flew into a sitting position, eyes wild.

Lovino, who was still holding on, was thrown back to the floor, where he then glared at the offending sleeper. "Good morning to you too, _asino_."

"Whuh?" The Canadian grumbled, blinking the sleep from his eyes. "What time izzit?"

"Way too late for you to be sleeping on Christmas bro! Come on! Presents bigger than your face Mattie! Your face!"

"Yeah, I heard you the first time. I'm up."

With a grin to rival the Cheshire cat, Alfred turned to run back down to the living room, where Feliciano and Nonno were already waiting around the tree.

"_Buon Natale _Mateo! Alfredo did say it would take awhile to get you up!"

"Sorry about that."

"No, no, it's okay. Look _fratello_! _Le Befana _didn't think you were bad this year!"

"You're way too old to believe all that crap." Lovino sighed; though the usual bite in his insults wasn't present as he bent down to sit next to his twin. "Can we start now?" He asked, looking up at Nonno.

"Go ahead."

The next hour and a half was a flurry of tearing paper and scattered reactions. Alfred was well and truly appeased for the year with his haul of new video games, and McDonald's gift cards, courtesy of Matthew, Arthur and Lovino.

Gifts were admired, thanks were exchanged. The only thing missing became very clear as Feliciano's stomach let out a low growl, breaking through the conversation.

"Breakfast." He murmured sheepishly.

"_Sí, sí_, I'll take care of it." Lovino replied, already getting to his feet. He ruffled his twin's hair as he went, an odd display of affection probably reserved for special occasions alone.

Matthew turned the new sketchbook from Alfred over in his hands absent-mindedly as he thought. It had been awhile since he'd taken a moment to completely zone out. Usually he did so in art class, but this year, Feliciano had been filling the silence with conversation. Not that it was unwanted, just… time-consuming. But right at that moment, he found his thoughts drifting around, sorting through the past few months.

He thought a bit about what Arthur and Francis must be doing at that moment, almost entirely alone on campus. Then his focus switched to his parents, who would've woken up a long time ago to get to work on whatever projects they had on the go. Then maybe go out for dinner together. He wondered if anyone ever thought about him the way he thinks about everyone…

Just as he'd gotten into concentrating on not concentrating, a steaming mug appeared in his field of view, being held above his head.

"It's apple cider." Lovino explained when his friend hesitated in taking it. "Homemade."

"Thanks." He reached up to accept it, the seasoned odour already welcome to his hungry senses.

And he definitely didn't turn red when his finger's brushed against Lovino's in the fumble to pass the mug without spilling.

{}}{{}

Later that afternoon, when Alfred had discovered the X-box in the basement, and effectively shut himself in there to play the new additions to his collection, and Feliciano and Lovino were off doing who-knows what, Matthew wandered into the living room, where shreds of wrapping paper still plastered about the furniture and walls from the morning rush. He walked over to the baby grand piano, which had sat silent, the entire stay, letting his fingers trail across the polished ivory keys. He wondered whom – if anyone – played the lonely thing. He knew that some people tended to buy pianos just to keep them as art pieces, or tables.

But when he played a few soft chords, it was clear that it was well cared for, tuned regularly, and played every once in awhile, judging by the easy hammer action.

"Do you play?"

He jumped with a start at the sound of Nonno's voice. "Y-yeah, but only a bit. It's been a long time since I last played."

"Excellent! He cheered suddenly. "Then tonight, you and Lovi should play!"

"Play?"

"_Sí_! Of course! A violin and piano duet! He has more sheet music scattered around this house than he'd care to admit." His voice dropped a little, and he looked more sombre as he continued, "he used to love playing. Now I have to push and prod just to get him to lift the instrument."

"He practices all the time at school."

"When?"

"After school-"

"When everyone else is gone, _sí_?"

"Yes."

"The poor boy only practices to keep his parents happy, not because he wants to. Once they found out that he had talent, his life was all planned out. I tried to talk them out of it, but he never got a chance to find another passion. Neither did Feli for that matter. But at least he's never lost interest in art for a minute."

"So that's why I've never heard him say a kind word about his parents…" Matthew mused aloud.

"That's likely. But! Don't let me keep changing the subject! You will play a duet with my grandson?"

"Sure, I don't mind. But I don't think you really want to hear my playing…"

"_Grazie_! I can't thank you enough!"

It took a lot of convincing to get Lovino to pull out the violin that Nonno kept for him, and to tune the unused strings. While he twisted and turned the pegs to get the E to stop sounding out a B flat, Matthew hurried through the sheets of duets for something familiar. He emerged; clutching a medley of Christmas carols like it was the Holy Grail.

"Perfect for the occasion." He explained when Lovino eyed his selection suspiciously.

"Alright. But it better not have Jingle Bells."

"Hey, it's your music. You tell me."

They propped the sheets up on the piano so that they could both see as long as Lovino peered of Matthew's shoulder, and then started playing. The Canadian's fingers were a bit stiff at first from lack of use, but eventually, the chords became familiar, and he was able to fall into place and enjoy the tunes. His sight-reading had never been his greatest skill, but it was good enough to entertain their audience of three.

When they finished, Feliciano applauded happily, nearly spilling the cider beside him. Matthew stood up, and turned around, catching Lovino's wrist as he went, and the two bowed quickly, to which Alfred laughed heartily.

"Bravo, you two!" Nonno cheered. "As much as I would love to glean another piece from you, I'm afraid that I must now play warden and insist that you go to bed. You have an early flight to catch."

"Right-e-o Nonno!" Alfred replied with a stretch. "Thanks for putting up with us this week."

"It was my pleasure!"

As they left for bed, he stopped Matthew again, and whispered, "Keep playing with him. I think he actually enjoyed it this time, and it would be so nice for him to play for himself again, and nobody else."

"I'll try." He promised.

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Thanks for reading~!

Hello my beautiful readers/reviewers. As I write this, Sweet&Sour is nearing its 100th review, and I am certainly not above bribing you guys to get there. So I'm going to do the same thing I've done before, and offer the 100th reviewer a prize. A Hetalia one-shot entirely of your choosing.

_Le Befana_: (the kindly old witch) is sort of like a Santa in Italy. The three wise men stopped at her hut, and asked if she'd go with them to pay respects to the Christ child and she refused, but later thought she should bring him a gift, and ran to find the stable, but couldn't, and now wanders, trying to find it. Since she can't find it, she leaves gifts for the children whose homes she passes, and coal for the naughty ones. There's your Italian tradition lesson for today, shamelessly swiped from Ask!

Holy Crap this is over 3000 words! It's a new personal record! There was just so much to stuff into this chapter. I don't know if everything was properly represented… So. Many. Undeveloped. Scenes! -twitch-


	20. New Year's in Montreal

"Holy-! It's cold here Mateo! It is very cold here!"

"I warned you."

"You can't prepare someone for the fucking arctic."

"It's not that bad."

"Yes, yes it is that bad! What is it, minus fifty?"

"It's only sixteen below Lovi-"

"Only? _Only_? Let me tell you, this is colder than some freezers, it has to be! In fact, I doubt you even need freezers here!"

By the time they'd reached the Jones-Williams residence, Lovino and Feliciano were both completely bundled up in sweaters and coats, and still shivering, and Alfred pulled on his thick winter coat too, being almost as bad with the cold. Matthew and the cab driver were both in light sweaters, and laughed at the shivering trio.

Mr. Jones opened the door of the house as the teens made their way up the freshly shovelled walkway, and greeted his boys with hearty one-armed hugs, and the twins with handshakes, significantly less over-enthusiastic than the Italian greeting. "Sorry I couldn't pick you boys up at the airport. I just barely got in myself."

"No problem dad! So long as there's Coke in the fridge, you have my undying love and gratitude."

"Good to know you're just as easy to win over as always Alfred. How about you Matthew? Do pancakes still win your forgiveness?"

"Nope, but the rights to bar everyone from the kitchen for tonight will."

"Oh you want to make supper then? I was just going to order some pizzas."

"No Mattie! Don't deprive me of my pizza! You can't do it! I'll go on a hunger strike! I swear I will!"

"Relax, I just want to make some dessert for tomorrow night."

"Aha! So you _do_ bake!" Lovino accused with a smirk.

The blond blushed dark red, as he hurried to deny it. "Only a bit!"

"Don't lie! I bet your mother doesn't even touch the stove, right?"

"What's all this about?" Mr. Jones asked laughingly. "Lucille? Bake? What nonsense have you been saying about your mother Matthew?"

His groan wasn't nearly loud enough to drown out the collective laughter that burst out courtesy of Lovino and Alfred.

"I hate all of you."

"You love us and you know it bro! But you should also know that we accept you for all of your girly hobbies because I make up for it by being made of testosterone!" Alfred cheered, slinging an arm over Matthew's shoulders. "Now let's order that pizza. Extra cheese!"

{}}{{}

"Mateo? Your dad told me to let you know that the pizza's here… Mateo?" Lovino poked his head into the doorway of the Canadian's bedroom curiously when his call wasn't answered right away as it normally would.

Matthew was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor, drawing rapidly in his sketchbook. His wavy hair had barely been tamed into a sloppy ponytail, stray chunks of hair jutting out at odd angles wherever they could. His bottom lip was bright red from being gnawed at in his concentration, and he still didn't look up, even when Lovino was standing right over him.

"You know we're just going to eat it all if you don't get down soon. The _idiota_ looks pretty hungry."

Still no reply. And Lovino hated to be ignored.

"What're you drawing?" He asked, raising the volume of his voice a bit.

He still didn't reply. There wasn't even any sign that he'd recognized the Italian's existence. So of course, Lovino's obvious choice of action was to snoop. Carefully, even though he was sure that Matthew was so deep into his 'zone' that he'd never realize what Lovino was up to, he walked around to peer over his friend's shoulder at the book.

It was a violin. At least, that's where his mind went the moment he saw the shape and strings. Without something to judge its size with, it could be a double bass for all he knew. But his first thought was confirmed as fingers were placed against the strings.

"Okay, okay, it looks fine. You can finish it when you're done eating."

Silence met him as the first outline of the musician began to form across the page.

"Hey! I'm talkin' to you!"

Matthew's head jerked upwards, knocking into Lovino's chin. "Ow! Sorry! I didn't know you were- are you okay?"

"Shit! Shut up for a second would you?" The Italian snapped, gingerly pressing his hand up to his chin.

"Sorry."

"Am I bleeding?"

"I can't tell… no. No, you're okay."

"Okay. So… pizza?"

"Sounds great. Help me up?"

Lovino heaved the Canadian to his feet, grumbling about how heavy he was, and then followed him back down to the living room. "I really am sorry."

"Apologize one more time, I dare you."

"Sor- okay."

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"Mattie! I have horrible news!" Alfred screamed, running up to his brother, who didn't look up from his book.

"Uh-huh."

"Dad forgot to get the hats and those buzzy confetti things for tomorrow night!"

"Okay?"

"We can't have New Years' without hats and buzzy confetti things!" He wailed, arms flailing uselessly. "You have to go get some!"

"Why do _I_ have to?"

"Because you know your way about the town!" Matthew raised an eyebrow, expecting the real reason. "… And because it's really cold out there."

"Okay, whatever, I'll go… wimp."

"Wait!" He shouted, just as Matthew had grabbed his coat. "It's dangerous to out alone! Take this with you!" And with that, he practically threw Lovino at his brother. "I've always wanted to say that!"

Matthew threw out an arm to keep his friend from flying face first into the door, and grinned. "Having fun there?"

"You have no idea." He grumbled. "I don't really have to go out there with you, do I? I'm kind of fond of my toes."

"You heard Alfred. It's dangerous to go alone."

"I hate that _idiota_." But Lovino did grab his coat and shoes nonetheless, and followed Matthew out the door, shivering almost as soon as they stepped into the cold. "Why? _Why_ would anyone want to live here?"

"Some of us learn to appreciate the cold Lovi."

"_Dio_! Will you quit calling me that?"

But Matthew just smirked, and ruffled the Italian's hair with a laugh. "But it's so much more familiar-sounding than Lovino." He explained, leading the way to the novelty store only a few blocks away. "Besides, it's cuter."

"Oh yeah, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. I get a nickname because it's _cute_." He muttered, turning a brilliant red.

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A small bell echoed from somewhere in the store when the door opened, and a tired-looking employee looked up as if their entrance had annoyed him from being lazy. "Can I help you with anything?"

"No thanks, just picking up some last-minute stuff." Matthew replied cheerily as he grabbed a basket from beside the door.

Once they'd woven through a few aisles, and were out of earshot, he leaned forward to mutter, "could he get any less enthusiastic?" While simultaneously tossing a stack of black top hats with _Happy New Year_ displayed across the brim in bright gold.

"We probably interrupted his pot-break."

"Now, now, where do you think you are, Vancouver?"

"Why am I not surprised that it's legal somewhere here?" Lovino groaned, snatching up a pack of noisemakers to add to the basket.

"It's still not _legal_, per say. Just common."

"So you say… do you think they'll want confetti?"

Matthew threw him a blank look, and without breaking his gaze, wordlessly swept half of the remaining confetti packets into the basket.

"Is that a yes?"

"No that's a 'do you have half a brain?' Of course they'll want confetti! It's sparkly, and it'll make a huge mess when Alfred inevitably throws it everywhere at midnight, leaving it for me to clean up tomorrow. He'll want tons of it."

They ended the trip with two bags loaded with cheap plastic nose-makers and paper hats, and a hefty two-litre bottle of Mountain Dew. (The result of a long debate of cream soda vs. root beer, ending in a phone call home, and Feliciano and Alfred teaming up against them with demands of Mountain Dew instead.)

"You shouldn't have listened to them." Lovino muttered on the way back.

"Well it's your own fault for being difficult!" Matthew shot back. "I mean, I don't have a problem with Mountain Dew or anything, it's just a matter of pride."

"Oh please! You cook and clean for your older brother. You have no pride."

The Canadian scoffed loudly at that. "And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well, you're… you… shut up."

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Pop purchases wouldn't be the only disagreement Matthew and his brother had before midnight. Around seven, as they set up the basement for their five-hour TV-fest, the two butted heads over scheduling.

"It's half and hour, Al! And nowhere near midnight! So you're not going to miss the ball dropping!"

"So what? The entertainment is supposed to be awesome this year, and I'm not going to miss a second of it for your stupid comedy skits!"

"Air Farce is comedic gold and you know it! Besides, they only do this one episode anymore, so I can't miss it! You can see live concerts anytime."

"Ve… what are they arguing about?" Feliciano asked, walking down the stairs with two bowls of chips.

"This happens every year." Mr. Jones replied with a sigh. "Matthew wants to watch Air Farce's New Year's special, and Alfred hates missing out on any of the Time Square show."

"Why doesn't one of them go watch upstairs then?"

"We tried that, then they just argued over who gets the big screen."

"So what normally happens?"

"Matthew usually wins, unless Alfred gets frustrated enough to get physical. Either way, whoever admits defeat first gets to tape the half hour they miss for tomorrow."

In the end, Alfred appeared to get pretty frustrated. Within minutes, Matthew had been pinned to the ground, and the triumphant American sat on top of him, grinning smugly. "Say Uncle Mattie. You'll be making it easier on the both of us."

"Okay, okay! You win Al! Just get off. Can't breathe."

He let out a gleeful whoop, and leapt to his feet. "Now let's go set up the DVD so you can watch your crap later."

Despite the minor setback attitude-wise, they evening blended into warm hours of chatter, munchies, and mocking whoever was on stage at the time, despite Alfred's irritated shushing.

Once the finger foods that made up their excuse for a supper had been cleared away, and the chip bowls took over the coffee table, Matthew hurried up to the kitchen, and brought down a large plate, heavily laden with the promised dessert.

Lovino nearly burst out laughing when he saw it. "You _actually_ made it!" He crowed, pointing to the torte.

"I said I would, didn't I?" Without another word, he dished up a plate for everyone before taking his own back to his seat on the sofa. "And before you say anything, I only bake on special occasions." He insisted, face bright red.

At around 11:55, their father disappeared upstairs, returning a moment later with a large bottle of champagne in hand. Alfred, Matthew, and Lovino all grimaced when they saw it, but Feliciano sat up eagerly.

"Dad, you really don't have to pull that out. It's just New Year's…" Matthew started.

"Yeah Dad! It's not a big deal or anything!" Alfred chimed in.

"Come on boys! Have you no love of tradition?"

"Not tradition that makes me want to vomit." Lovino muttered, glaring at the pale liquid that quickly filled each tall glass.

"Oh don't listen to them! Champagne is good!" Feliciano insisted, taking his glass. "Now look! It's about to drop!"

The minute-mark was past, and the five now held to their drinks, eyes glued to the glistening orb, and the counter in the bottom corner. Along with the rest of their time zone, they counted down from ten, and rang in the New Year with clinking glasses, and over dramatized retching noises courtesy of Alfred.

And all of the confetti ended up on the carpet mere moments later for Matthew to clean up.

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Thanks for reading~!

Congrats to JoyHeart on getting the 100th review (and admitting to being a cheating arse)

My pitiful writing playlist is no longer doing its job of inspiring me guys. So if you know of a song that reminds you of Canada and Romano, either individually, or as a couple, send it my way!

Anybody else watch Royal Canadian Air Farce every New Year's? Also, can you actually record TV onto a DVD or Bluray? I still use the VCR (like a boss).


	21. Snow and its Many Uses

When the four returned from Canada the day before the break ended, snow lay thick across the campus, with only the parking lots being cleared for staff to get around.

"I'm going for a walk." Matthew declared as soon as they'd dropped off their suitcases in the apartment. "You want to come?"

"Back into the cold?" Alfred asked, looking disgusted at the very idea. "No thanks."

"Suit yourself."

As he stepped out of the apartment, he was surprised by Lovino descending the steps above him, hands stuffed deep into his coat pockets. "Hey."

The Italian nodded a greeting, and fell into step with the other. "You trying to get out of unpacking too?"

"Huh? No, I just wanted to take a walk."

"Sure." He replied shortly.

"No, really. I like walking in the snow."

Lovino wrinkled his nose for a moment. "Why? It's too cold. I don't even drive when there's snow on the ground."

"Ever?"

"Ever."

He ignored the look of surprise on Matthew's face as they continued walking. It wasn't like there was ever actually snow to worry about on the roads where he lived. And when there was, he just didn't drive because it was too dangerous, (especially at the speeds that he went at) it was as simple as that. Actually, that Matthew's father had driven in Montreal when there was snow had scared him half to death, not that he'd ever let either teen know that.

"Hey, why don't we got though the park? I'll bet the trees look really pretty all covered in snow."

"Really? You don't even have a camera with you, and already you're talking about how 'pretty' everything would look."

"There's nothing wrong with that."

"If you're a woman, no. But now…"

The Canadian stuck his tongue out quickly, before turning back, and leading the way to the nearby park. "It'll be nice."

"Also a very feminine thing to say."

"Oh shut up!"

"You know it's true."

The trees were heavily laden with the powder, occasionally sending crystalline showers to the ground. The entire place was silent, even the sounds of the approaching footsteps were muffled as Matthew and Lovino walked along the paths of the park. It really did look pretty, but he decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut this time.

"You should've worn gloves."

"I'm fine." Lovino muttered, shoving his hands even further into his pockets. "Gloves just make your fingers colder anyway, they're no good."

"True, but they're still pretty good for _this_!" With a grin, Matthew shoved the other over into the snow. "Get up now, I dare you!"

Lovino frowned, and stared at his bare hands, which he held above him to keep them from the snow. "Help me up." He growled. When Matthew didn't move, he finally drove his hands into the powder beneath him to leap up, and shove the other teen off the other side o the path. "You little shit! You got snow down my coat! It's fucking cold and wet!"

"Yeah, snow's like that." He replied from his spot on the ground. "But unlike you, I…" He pushed himself up to his feet, and grinned, "…have gloves, and am just fine."

The Italian scowled, but clicked his mouth shut, returned his hands to his pockets, which were cold again, much to his annoyance, and turned on his heel to walk away."

But Matthew wasn't about to let it end that easily. Where he grew up, exposing your back to someone so soon after pushing them into the snow was an invitation of war, and he'd never turned down such an invitation yet. So still grinning, he scooped up some snow, packed it a little bit, and lobbed it at Lovino's retreating form. His aim held true, and it smacked him square in the back of the head.

Lovino stopped, but didn't turn. He didn't even say a word. There was no swearing in either English or Italian, no exclamation that Matthew was an idiot. He could just tell from the stiffness in his shoulders that he was pissed.

When he did turn, Matthew was not disappointed. Hazel eyes flashed angrily, and his mouth was drawn in a thin line that stood out prominently pink against his olive skin.

Still without a word, he reached down to grab a lump of snow to throw back. But by the time it was ready, Matthew had already thrown a second, which hit him in the face.

Lovino gasped at the cold, eyes suddenly very wide. "Now you're in for it." He growled dangerously.

"Just try it Lovi!"

"_Don't_… call me that!" He shouted, throwing the snowball back at the Canadian, who blocked most of it with his arm.

"What's the matter? Can't get a good shot without gloves, can you?"

"You little…" He knelt down, and got a large handful, letting it numb his hands as he packed it down, and hurled it. While Matthew did try to block it, he wasn't as successful this time, and most of it covered his face.

"Hey! Looks like you actually _can_ aim!"

"Why don't you just focus on trying to hit me?"

"With pleasure."

They continued like that, back and forth until they were both too tired to continue. In one final attempt to claim a victory, Lovino launched himself at the blond, sending them both flying into a drift.

"Oh shit! Jeez! You got snow down my back!" Matthew shouted, breathless, and half-laughing.

"Well, you freeze my back, I freeze yours, _principessa_."

Caught between laughing, and glaring, he tossed the Italian off of him, and got to his feet. "Come on, let's head back before we freeze to death."

"That'll make a funny headline. '_Two idiots frozen in the snow a hundred feet away from their dorms._' The readers will eat that shit up."

"I'll make hot chocolate."

"Who said I wanted any?"

"Well, Feli's way of warming you up will probably be pasta…"

"Do you have milk?"

"No, but we can pick some up at the campus store."

"Then what're we waiting for? Come on."

After a quick stop at the store, Matthew and Lovino sat in the kitchen, waiting for the milk to heat up while Alfred sifted through his vast videogame collection, convinced that they'd been robbed over the break and he was missing a few. The sad part was that he did this every year, after every break ever spent outside of the school, despite assurance that the school had the best security they could afford, and no one really wanted his games anyway.

"My _Dead Rising_ is gone Mattie!"

"You brought it with you over the break. It's still in your suitcase."

"Oh… thanks bro."

Still smirking, the blond tapped the cancel button on the microwave before it started beeping, and pulled the now-piping mugs of milk. "How much powder do you want?"

"Surprise me."

"What is this? The great and picky Lovino Vargas doesn't have an exact number of scoops for his hot chocolate to be perfect? I don't believe you."

At first, he didn't get an answer. But after only a few moments, he was rewarded with a slightly pouty reply. "Three and a little bit for luck."

"That's more like it." He added the amount, stirred rapidly, sprinkled in some cinnamon, and slid it across the counter to his friend's awaiting hands. "Enjoy."

"You're kind of a dick, you know that?"

"Grow up with Alfred as an older brother, and Gilbert as a friend. It comes as second nature. What's your excuse?"

"My mother is a bitch."

"Ouch?"

"Really. She's got a stick shoved so far up her ass it gave Feli brain damage in the womb, and she won't even take the blame for it."

"That's just gross dude." Alfred called from the living room. "Like, seriously. That image will never leave my brain."

"I hate to agree with him, but…" His pause was answer enough. "You shouldn't talk about your mother that way."

"You say that now. But next time she comes over to visit, you get to sit in a room with her, and enjoy her chilly company, deal?"

"Deal."

They shook on it.

"But seriously, why are to so convinced that Feli has problems? You're always calling him stupid. I thought that twins were really close."

"Are _you_ the one with brain damage? He's a complete _idiota_ with half a brain."

"You don't give him enough credit. He's not really that stupid." Despite what the other may think, Matthew was well aware of how Lovino had dodged his pointing out that they should be rather close as twins.

"That's what everyone says. It's because he's adorable, isn't it?"

"Why would that have anything to do with his intelligence?"

"Simple. People don't see anything wrong with cute things being stupid. They just think they're being cute."

"Do I detect a hint of bitterness?"

The other teen snorted sharply, sending a slight spray of hot chocolate into his own face. "Like hell."

Again, Alfred leapt into the conversation, now satisfied that none of his games were stolen. "Would you two shut up and kiss already?"

"Wh-what the hell are you talking about Alfred?" Matthew stammered, already turning red.

"Nah, just screwin' with you bro. I haven't seen you turn that many shades of red since you were… thirteen? Yeah. That was a good year. I didn't know there were that many shades of red until then."

"You're a dick." The other two muttered in almost perfect unison, which only served to make Matthew blush even darker.

Elizaveta would have been proud Alfred if she'd been working for her.

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Thanks for reading~!

Yes, their bickering is usually about how mean Lovi is to his brother. And it's starting to annoy Al.


	22. Gilbert's Most Awesome Quest

**Chapter 22: Gilbert's Most Awesome and Dangerous Mission That is so Amazing it Requires this Ridiculously Long Title that is Way too Long for Fanfiction to Allow but That's Just the Way Gilbert Rolls**

Gilbert was slumped lazily in his seat, watching countryside fly by him through the window. The seats around him were empty, though there had been a friendly elderly couple in there a little while ago. They'd gotten off at the last station to visit family, leaving him with a cherry-flavoured sucker, which now hung from his mouth. He loved other people's grandparents. They never knew how much of a brat he'd been when he was a kid.

The round trip to Hungary and back would take him a day, two, tops, which he didn't mind taking from school. But it was the reasoning behind his trip that was a bit annoying. Not to mention worse for his supposed 'tough guy' image than the sweet he was currently enjoying.

{}}{{}

Elizaveta had looked up at him from her couch, lower lip trembling. "Gil… I left it at home…" She said, barely above a whisper. "I left my camera…"

He controlled the urge to face-palm, but couldn't stifle the groan. "You have _got _to be kidding me! You never go _anywhere_ without it!"

"I know! And I packed it and everything, but then my cousin and his boyfriend came in to say goodbye, and I guess I just…"

"You did your thing." Gilbert finished.

"Yeah. I even know where it is. It's sitting on the side table in the living room. My dad must've missed it too or he would've told me about it."

"So call him and have him mail it to you."

"No, he's in Hong Kong until March. And I can't wait that long for it. Valentine's day is less than a month away! By the time my dad gets back, it'll be too late…"

"So let me guess. You want me to leave the day before school starts, probably miss tomorrow, and go all the way to your house, just for your camera?"

"I would go myself, but…"

"Clearly you don't know me very well Lizzie. Missing more school is the second most awesome thing that could ever happen to someone."

Elizaveta knew she would regret asking, but she ploughed on anyway. "And what's the first?"

He grinned before answering, "Me, of course."

"So, you'll get it?"

"You bet! This is the kind of stuff what you brought me on board for, isn't it?"

"Of course! Here's your ticket! And the spare key to the house is in the fake red brick closest to the right side of the door."

He stared blankly at the slip of paper she pressed into his hand. "You knew I would say yes, didn't you?"

"Well of course! There's nothing you wouldn't do for me if I ask nicely."

Gilbert just smirked, and took the ticket. "You've got me there, but there's no need to put it like that."

"Your reward will be great when you return." Elizaveta teased, tossing the albino his leather jacket. "Now you'd better go if you want to be back soon."

"Well then maybe I'll take my own sweet time."

"Just make sure that camera is sitting in this room by February thirteenth, or there'll be hell to pay!"

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Someone announced that the next stop would be Pécs, and Gilbert sat up with a stretch. "Here at last." He muttered to himself. From what he remembered from visiting as a kid, the Héderváry residence wasn't very far from the station. Then again, it _had _been quite awhile since he'd been there… But that didn't matter! Awesome people never get lost!

At least, that's what he continued telling himself as he walked down every single street around the station, looking around for the house he remembered vividly. It wasn't there. "I'll bet those bastards remodelled it." He muttered.

That left him with two options. One: Go back to the station, and call Elizaveta to get directions from there, or two: ask some of the neighbours if they knew.

Option one meant a blow to his pride, which had already been weakened by the fact that he was running a cross-continental errand for a girl.

That left option two. Never mind that his Hungarian was as broken as the car he and Ludwig had 'accidentally' pushed off a cliff when he was eight, and only 3 percent of the population in this city was German. He was awesome, and could therefore do it easily.

After about two hours of going door-to-door, and asking every inhabitant if they spoke German, and subsequently, two hours of doors being slammed in his face, he was ready to cave in and call Elizaveta. His thumb was even on the talk button, when the text tone buzzed cheerfully in his palm.

He frowned when he saw that it was from Elizaveta herself.

_Thought u might want some directions dumbass. _

After which, there was a set of directions from the station that even an eight year-old could figure out.

"Damn psychics." He growled, pocketing the phone, and starting back towards the station.

Just when the station was in sight, and he could pull out his phone to start following the directions, something tugged on the hem of his shirt, and Gilbert whirled around to see who it was.

"_Akar vásárolni egy madár_?" The young girl asked sweetly, holding a little yellow chick up to his face.

"Look, sorry kid, I don't speak Hungarian."

She didn't seem to get it, and just continued holding out the bird, and repeating the phrase over and over, occasionally slowing it down as if that would make him understand.

"Um… it's cute?"

"Aliz!" They both looked up as an older woman turned the corner, saw the two, and hurried over. "_I'm sorry about my daughter._" She said quickly, making Gilbert grin. It was the only phrase he understood in Hungarian. He heard it a lot growing up around Elizaveta. Of course, then he'd always assumed that it meant _son_, not _daughter_.

"_It's okay_." He replied in German, hoping that the woman would understand.

Oddly enough, she did. "_You're not from around here_."

"_No. I was just looking for a friend's house when_…" He indicated Aliz, who was now behind her mother, though still holding the bird expectantly.

"_Right. She insists that she has a job now, selling birds that she raises._"

"_Well then, how much_?" He asked, only half-jokingly.

When her mother translated, Aliz brightened, and held up five fingers. With a smirk, Gilbert dug through his pockets until he found the forints Elizaveta had given him for an emergency, and handed the girl five.

She traded him for the yellow bird, and beamed. "_Köszönöm_!"

"_No problem kiddo_." He looked back up to the mother and then waved. "_Thanks, I have to get going now. Bye_!"

She nodded, and took Aliz's hand to lead her back to wherever they were headed. Probably taking her home from school or something.

Gilbert then left to two behind, and continued on to the station. "Wasting Lizzie's money is so much fun!" He cheered to himself in a singsong voice, holding his new purchase close with one hand, and digging for his phone with the other. "Now for those directions."

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At last, he was standing in front of the three-story house made of grey bricks, with red ones smattered across the walls. "Well Gilbird, welcome to Lizzie's house!" He cheered, holding out the bird (now dubbed 'Gilbird') to get a better view of the building. "Now we go get her camera, and raid the kitchen. Sound like a plan?"

Gilbird chirped loudly, which Gilbert took as an agreement, and he marched up to the house.

As promised, the key was located in one of the red bricks that stood out against the pale ones, and he unlocked the door in one swift movement, hoping there wasn't some freaky alarm system in place. But the whole house was silent as he entered, feeling a flood of memories of being here as a kid. Meeting Elizaveta, (_Wiz_, when she was little) tormenting the neighbours, competing to be the best. There wasn't a sour memory in the whole bunch.

The camera was sitting on a side table in the front living room, just like she'd said it would be. But other than that, the house didn't look lived in. Part of it was probably because it had been set up for no one to be home, but he'd always thought the house was kind of empty.

"So, our train doesn't leave until tomorrow Gilbird. I wonder what we'll do until then?"

Gilbird seemed to prefer investigating the couch than answer, so Gilbert was left to decide for himself. "I say snooping Lizzie's room first, kitchen raid later." And with that, he scooped up the bird, making a mental note to find a box to keep it in before he left, and wandered upstairs to hunt for Elizaveta's room.

The first door on the right was just a linen closet, and beyond that was a guest bedroom, far too clean and impersonal to ever be Lizzie's. The third room was another guest bedroom still, slightly smaller than the first, and the one he and Ludwig shared during their visits (as evident by the multitude of nicks made in the bedposts by toy swords and flying metal Hotwheels.)

He paused only a moment to reminisce before hurrying off to hunt down the elusive bedroom. Directly across from him was a small powder room, and after that…

The door groaned inwards, and he immediately knew that this was the right place. Call him crazy, but the very large poster involving Kiku's artwork, two of Lizzie's classmates, and some chains was a good enough clue for him. (Seriously, how had her father not _seen_ it yet?)

Other than the aforementioned new addition, her room was almost normal. The bedspread was a dark navy, with lighter blue pillows standing out like a shock in a dark room. The carpet was a light cream, and the walls, pale green, almost white. All of the furniture was the same dark wood as the door, making the splashing array of colour coming from the bookshelf even more vivid. The room was frighteningly nothing like the one he remembered. (This kept on shocking him even though the last time he and Elizaveta had played together was when they were ten and nine respectively.)

"Lizzie seems like the kind of person who would keep boxes, right Gilbird?" Without waiting for a chirped reply, he stepped in, and began his thorough examination of the room for just the right little box for his new pet.

"Aha! There you are, little devil!" He spied the perfect little cardboard box with tacky golden ornaments printed on, probably the remains of an unfortunate Christmas present. It was peeking out of the closet, just waiting to hold Gilbird safely. With a flourish, he flung the door wide open, and snatched up the box. Once Gilbird was happy in his temporary home, Gilbert moved to close the door, only for the contents of the closet to catch his eye.

"Oh shit…" He knew he'd regret it, but he just had to flick the light switch, revealing a whole walk-in closet of costumes. There was only one rack of Elizaveta's formal wear, (casual wear was folded into dresser drawers) and the rest was all costumes. Some was cosplay from video games to movies and TV shows from all corners of the Earth, while the rest were a few typical girl costumes like nurses or bunnies.

The worst part? Upon closer inspection, Gilbert noticed that there were nametags on the costumes, taped onto the hangers. The worse worst part? They were all guys' names. He couldn't tell if they were worn or not, but either way, if he hadn't already known that his friend was a sick puppy, he'd be well aware of the fact now.

"Lizzie, you are going into yaoi rehab when I get back." He muttered, snapping the light switch off, and leaving the room. The urge to take a black sharpie and censor all of the books on her shelves was overwhelming, but he wasn't sure if his (or Gilbird's) eyes would be able to take it.

Maybe the kitchen raid would be safer.

{}}{{}

"You bought a chicken."

"Wrong Lizzie. I rescued a _chick_ from the cold and cruel mountaintop that was the dark and gothic Héderváry manor! Oh Lizzie! If you could see what I've seen! The cruellest atrocities! And no mozzarella-sticks to ease my hunger!"

They were sitting in the apartment that Gilbert and Ludwig shared, Elizaveta with her camera held safely on her lap, and Gilbert with Gilbird nested comfortably in his hair. Gilbert had just finished recounting his 'adventure' (minus the details of seeing the interior of her closet. That he would take with him to the grave if he had to.)

"You know it'll grow into a chicken sooner or later. Won't be so cute then."

"You lie! Gilbird's way too awesome to be a chicken!"

"It's a chicken I tell you! A chicken!"

"Well let's say he _is _a chicken, for argument's sake…"

"Of course."

"Would you like him better if he were a gay chicken?"

"…Are you high Gil?"

"Nope! Just awesome!"

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Enter: Gilbird. Well _obviously_ now we can get this story going, as we now have the main character.

The title was supposed to be longer, but there's a character limit. :(

My AU head canon: When she was little, Lizzie had sort of an Elmer Fudd lisp (her Rs and Ls were pronounced as W) and so when she introduced herself to Gilbert, her name became Wiz, and he thought it was just a cool nickname. Their parents thought it was so cute, they never bothered to correct Gilbert, so he always thought she was a boy.

Animaniacs reference counter: 2


	23. The Resurrection of Greg

The soft tick of the wall clock above the librarian's desk was the only sound in the otherwise muted building. The unforgiving hands marked that 10pm was almost upon them, and that in just over half an hour, the desperately studying would be thrown out on their keisters whether or not they even knew what a keister was.

"I don't think I'm gonna ever get this…" Alfred moaned, slamming his head down on top of the history textbook in front of him. "There's just _so_ many friggin' dates to remember!"

"I'd love to help you Al, really I would…" Matthew replied absentmindedly, being a little more focussed on the chemistry problems he'd been staring blankly at for the past ten minutes. "But I honestly wouldn't feel too bad if you failed."

"You're a lousy bro, y'know that?"

"Uhuh…"

"So are you going to ever actually do something with that, or are you just going to keep staring at the numbers until they figure out themselves?" Lovino asked suddenly, peering over the top of his own chemistry book.

Matthew blushed, and quickly pulled out a periodic table, and started throwing down numbers. "Since when do you care?"

"You're the one who wanted to study altogether like this, the least you could do is do some damn work, _asino_."

The blond stuck out his tongue, but still did start to actually work. Exams were less than twelve hours away for all of them. Lovino and Matthew had science, Alfred had history, and Feli… well, no one knew what Feli had seeing as he wasn't studying. Apparently he didn't believe it did any good. Instead, he was humming quietly and doodling as the other three worked in a panic to make sure they knew everything they'd need.

In the three hours they'd been there, he'd drawn caricatures of all of them, as well as the librarians, given everyone who had passed by (back when there actually were other students besides themselves) a big happy face that read 'GOOD LUCK!' and drawn a never-ending forest on enough sheets of paper to have taken down an entire forest.

Not to mention, the humming was really getting on Lovino's nerves. He was trying to focus on science, but his perfect pitch was screaming the note names at him as soon as they left Feliciano's mouth.

__C, D, E, C, FFF. B, C, D, B, EEE. C. D, E, C, FFF, A, G, D, C, B, C. __Over and over again! Like he didn't know another song in the world!

As he continued to suffer, everyone else continued on in their lucky, carefree, non-perfect-pitch worlds. "How come you're not hanging out with Ludwig or something?" Alfred asked after Feliciano had finished of his fourteenth happy strawberry, and sixth repetition of the song.

"He's studying too." He replied with a pout. "And he doesn't like me being there when he does. He says I'm distracting… am I distracting, _fratello_?"

"Little bit." Lovino sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration. "Maybe just a little bit. Look, why don't you just go back to drawing or something? Just be quiet."

"Okay, if you say so."

The blissful silence went on for a few minutes, before Feli stood up triumphantly. "Mateo! Look who's back!"

Matthew glanced up from the equation that was mocking him, to grin at the paper that was being held in front of his face. "Hi there Greg! I thought you were dead." Sure enough, it was almost the exact same clam the Italian had drawn near the beginning of the year.

"Well then it must be a zombie, if he died." Alfred muttered without looking up.

"No way! Greg can't be a zombie!" Feliciano whimpered, looking mournfully at his drawing like it was a dying puppy.

"Well that's what usually happens in the movies, Feli. The character that goes missing early on shows up, claiming to be there to save the day like a hero. Only to turn out to have been an undead creation the whole time and want nothing more than to suck their brains out through their ears with curly straws." The American explained.

"You shouldn't question Al's movie knowledge either." Matthew added. "It will never end well… Here." He took the paper, and hid it from view for a few moments, only to return it with an ill-looking speech-bubble that read '_BRAINS_'.

The smaller teen couldn't help but start laughing at it. "Okay! _Sí_, he is a zombie."

Within a few minutes, a crack on the shell had been added, revealing a 'clammy brain' as Feliciano called it, and Greg had been given a few sharp teeth. Their plan of studying was long gone, as they chose to just amuse themselves in the last little while until they were kicked out.

Lovino was still attempting to read over his notes just once more, but he figured that he was as ready as he'd ever be, just as Matthew slid a sheet of paper across the table to rest in front of him. "The fuck is this?"

"A doodle war. You have to try to destroy my drawing with another, and I have to protect it."

He switched his gaze from the Canadian, to the paper, which had a miniature polar bear quickly sketched in the middle. "So… like this?" He scribbled a long spear flying towards the bear, and slid it back.

"Yeah! And then…" When it was passed back, there were two ovals. One directly in the path of the spear, and one further away. "Portals." He explained quickly when Lovino's eyebrow started inching its way up his face.

"Of course."

It didn't take long for the page to fill up with attacks such as a vat of sulphuric acid below the bear, Pyramid Head, and (Lovino's personal favourite,) a volley of explosive tomatoes. Then there were Matthew's defences of a neutralizing base, a mannequin distraction, and a diamond force field respectively.

Alfred and Feli were cheering on their brothers, and probably would have started a betting pool if there had been more people around. But the battle ended when there wasn't enough space on the paper for Matthew's trampoline to protect the bear from the 'Infinite Pit o' Despair', and he was forced to concede the match.

"Come on!" Alfred had protested. "That pit's stupid anyway! It's just a cheap copout because he can't really draw."

"Oh then why don't you do better, _idiota_? Sorry if I'm not the artist Feliciano is!" He snapped back.

"Calm your shit!"

"Then stop being a moron, _bastardo_!"

"Shut the fuck up-a!" Alfred mocked. "See? I can speak Italian too, it's not that hard!"

"Al! Calm down, it was just a game." Matthew sighed. Only Alfred could get so worked up over a doodle war.

"You too _fratello_. He didn't really mean anything by it." Feliciano murmured soothingly. "No need to be defensive, _sí_?

"... _Sí_." He took a deep breath, and didn't say another word, but just glared at the American, who held his gaze with equal annoyance.

Feli started humming again almost immediately after the battle had ended, and swung his feet merrily back and forth, occasionally kicking the table. Lovino suppressed a groan as he felt his head start pounding again.

He could've leapt for joy when one of the librarians poked her head around the corner, and said, "The library is closing now boys! You'll have to go!"

"Okay! Thanks!" Alfred shouted back, before turning again to the others. "You heard the Hunter, let's head out."

The two librarians in the school had been not-so-affectionately nicknamed 'the Hawk' and 'the Hunter' by students over the years, and it was a tradition that continued to be passed down to every new set of ninth graders. The Hawk never left the station in the centre of the room. She could just spot every rule-breaker from a mile away. The Hunter was the one who wandered around silently, finding students to hush wherever they could hide from the Hawk.

So, not wanting to incur the wrath of either woman, they all packed up their books, and hurried back towards the dorms.

"Oh, by the way Feli, there's Greg-zombie." Matthew said, passing the drawing back to its artist.

"No, you can keep him, Mateo. Think of it as a good-luck charm for your exam tomorrow."

"Okay, but I don't think he'll be too much help, being a zombie and all."

"Oh but he's a very smart clam. Eating all those brains does that to you." The Italian explained, nodding his head sagely. "The real trouble is getting him to relay the information."

"Well, I don't speak zombie."

"That's why he's just a good-luck charm!"

"If you say so…"

"Don't worry about it Mattie, I've got a zombie-to-English dictionary." Alfred chimed in, wrapping an arm around his brother's shoulders.

"Only you would own something like that." Matthew said with a bright laugh. "I wonder if they'd let me bring it into the exam… not if they knew that I was using it to talk to Greg."

"_Dio_, you people are stupid! It's just a fucking drawing!" Lovino snarled suddenly, before storming off ahead of them.

"What's wrong with him?" Alfred wondered. The light mood from moments earlier was gone in that single instant.

"D-don't worry about him. He's probably just really tired." Feli explained quickly.

Neither brother really believed him, but they continued their walk home in silence.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Cookies and cyber-hugs for whoever can guess what Feli's humming.

Animaniacs Reference Counter: 3 (but it's insanely sneaky, and can only be caught if you have all of Wakko's Wish memorized like I do, and even then it's not a line exclusive to the franchise, but it's funnier if you have the right voice actor in mind...)

If you've been keeping up with my profile-progress reports, you've probably noticed that the entire story is now finished. So I'm going to start posting chapters twice a week instead of once. Maybe even more, because I want it all posted before summer's over. So it's now Sundays and Thursdays starting right now!


	24. Alfred's Declaration

The first day of their week off after first semester exams, Matthew had been sitting at the kitchen counter, eating either a late breakfast or early lunch of cold pancakes from the day before, when Alfred burst into the apartment, beaming from ear to ear. "Hey Mattie! Just the guy I was looking for! I have great news! You remember when I was telling you about me and Natalya considering a three-way with her brother?"

"Oh God you didn't!" He groaned, feeling the mouthful he'd just swallowed catch in his throat. Alfred seemed to have forgotten to bring what little tact he actually had with him today.

"No! Like I said, he's weird… more importantly, we've actually found someone who's more than willing to get a little freaky, and we can both agree is hot." He ignored his brother's muttered '_you're_ the weird one', and held both of his arms out behind him in a 'ta-da!' motion to the teen who now stepped into the apartment from outside.

He was tall, and thin, with pale brown hair that was close to being blond, and dark hazel eyes that gleamed laughingly at the expression on the Canadian's face. "Hey Matt! It's been awhile!"

"Oh how the hell did he rope you into this Will?"

Willem Baern was in Alfred's grade, and his family had been close to theirs since they'd been little, though he'd always been closest to Matthew, earning him the affectionate nickname of pedo from Alfred. The older brother was always fighting for the other's attention so often, even pretending to be Matthew sometimes. He should've seen something like this coming, really, but he liked to think that his brother would never go and make things awkward between him and his friends.

Really, sometimes it was like Matthew didn't even know his own brother.

But at the question, Will just grinned, and draped an arm around Alfred's shoulders. "I heard him talking about it with Kirkland, who looked like he was gonna be sick at the idea, and decided to step in and offer my services."

"Al! You asked Arthur? That's disgusting!"

Alfred, to his credit, did at least look a little embarrassed. "I was desperate Mattie. And it's not like he would've said yes. Besides, it was either him or Frenchie."

_'Count to ten Matt, one… two… three… f_-' "Are you insane? You were considering sleeping with not one, but both of our cousins?"

"Not at the same time…" He argued weakly. "Natalya likes Will better anyway, 'cause he's tall and wears a scarf like Ivan…"

"You're insane…" Matthew muttered again, but he didn't press the matter any further. "But, if you're all happy, I won't bug you anymore, so long as you don't all get married or something freaky."

Alfred just grinned, and shrugged. "We'll see, won't we?"

Matthew rolled his eyes, and stood up, leaving the dishes to be taken care of later. "Well, I'm going to Lovino's for a bit. You kids have fun. Nothing that will keep me off of the couch for the rest of the year please."

"Don't worry Mattie! We'll be safe! See you!"

He didn't even bother putting on shoes before leaving, as the Vargas' apartment was just up the stairs. Really not worth that extra effort. So he simply suppressed a shiver as the freezing stone hit his feet, and sprinted up the stairs.

When he reached the door, and knocked, it was immediately swung open by Feliciano, who gave him a mauling hug. "Ve~! Mateo! It's so good to see you again! You want some pasta? We're making lots to celebrate our break! You should help, I'll teach you!"

Matthew just chuckled, and let the Italian drag him through the door. "Sounds like fun! The only pasta I've made since coming here is KD. It's all Al will eat."

At the sound of 'KD', Feliciano's face took on a disturbingly dark expression, and he froze in the entranceway of the kitchen.

"Feli? You okay?"

"You shouldn't make that garbage anymore. It's not real pasta." He replied coolly.

"O-okay?" He tore his hand out of Feliciano's suddenly vice-like grasp, and continued uncertainly into the kitchen, where Lovino was chopping tomatoes next to a tall, steaming pot.

"Don't mention the Kraft Devil around him. He snaps." The older twin explained without looking up.

"I'll keep that in mind. You need any help here?"

Lovino pointed with the knife to a cupboard above the sink. "Grab the strainer from there, and strain the pasta. Normally Feliciano does it but he's a bit busy." He pointed again through the window to the living room, where Feli was pacing quickly, muttering under his breath. "And before you ask, he'll be fine. Just give him a couple minutes to calm down."

He watched Feliciano pace for a while before turning back to the open cupboard, where he started rummaging for the strainer. "So how do you think you did on your exams?" He asked, just to break the silence that he knew would become awkward if left alone.

Lovino shrugged. "Good enough probably. My parents don't really care as long as I pass, except in my performance class. That needs to be the highest mark."

"What about your grandpa? He seemed pretty eager for you to try other things." _'The boy doesn't yet know what else he could excel in.' _"If you just stick to one thing, you won't know if you like something else more."

"_I_ know. But try explaining that to _them_. They're obsessed."

He hummed, not really knowing how to reply to that. "So how did you do on your performance test?"

"I botched the ending. Other than that, it was fine."

"How? You're an amazing violinist."

"Everyone screws up every once in awhile. Besides, I…" He thought of how the flash of blond hair outside the door had thrown him off. "…I got distracted by some moron's cellphone going off."

"And they didn't let you start over? You'd think that'd be grounds for a retake."

"It's a high-class exam, not school photos. You can't just redo everything you don't like."

Silence settled around them, neither really wanting to talk after his short outburst. Matthew finally decided to break it. "Do you have the sauce ready? This looks ready to eat."

"Who do you think I am? Like hell I'd let the pasta be ready before the sauce. Feliciano and I could time it perfectly by the time we were eight."

He held back the laughter that threatened to burst out of his throat. He was just being so damn serious about the whole thing that it was hilarious. "You're a lot more like Feli than I think you'd like to admit."

"What are you talking about, _asino_?"

"Nothing. Hey Feli! Do you want any pasta?"

Like flicking a switch, the auburn-haired teen was instantly bright and chipper again. "_Sì_! I'll get plates! _Fratello_, do you want to eat in the kitchen or in the living room?"

"There's more room out there." Lovino reasoned shortly.

"Ve~! You're so smart _fratello_! Do you want to watch a movie too Mateo? We've got lots of good ones!"

"Sure. You can pick."

"Okay! I'll make it a surprise!" He set the plates down on the counter, and ran back to the living room, where he began sifting through the stack of DVDs beside the TV.

"It's like he's still a little kid sometimes." Matthew mused aloud.

"Yeah… I think mamma dropped him as a baby."

"I've said that about Al too. Mom always says that she was didn't, but she was on so much pain medication, that there's really no telling if she even remembers his childhood or not."

They filled up all three plates with penne pasta that the Canadian was steadily becoming used to having whenever he was over, and headed into the other room.

"I picked Harry Potter. We don't have many other movies in English."

"Are you sure you can handle it Feliciano? Don't want you having nightmares." Lovino teased, though not nearly as harshly as he normally would.

"Ve… but _fratello_, you were the one who didn't want to see the third one because the trailer was too creepy…"

Blush warmed up Lovino's olive skin, as he attempted to retort, "no way! You're getting your people confused again! _Cazzo_! That was Dominic, don't you remember?"

"Hmm… No, I'm pretty sure it was you. Dominic even went with me."

Now a feverish shade of red, the elder Italian brought up a hand to smack his brother upside the head. "Would you shut up? I said it wasn't me, so it wasn't me!"

"Okay! But there's no need to hit me Lovi!" Feliciano pouted, rubbing his head gingerly.

As Lovino muttered an unfeeling apology, Matthew couldn't help but think that Lovino freaking out at the trailer of a Harry Potter movie would definitely be something worth filming.

{}}{{}

As the movie was coming to a close, Matthew figured he should be heading out, only to recall how excited his brother had been to add Willem to his date night, and pulled out his phone.

_-Al, I'm going to be home in 5 min. you'd better not b having a 3way on the couch-_

A minute later, the reply buzzed in his hand. _-…mayb u shud sleep ovr ther 2nite- _

_-Oh GOD! How r u texting and… HOW?-_

_-I has skill bro-_

_-And didn't I tell you not to do anything that'd keep me off the couch?-_

_-Ther's still teh chairs-_

_-I wish I were adopted-_

_-Luv u 2-_

With a shudder, Matthew closed his phone with a snap, and looked over to the twins. "Do you mind if I spend the night? It appears that I've been sexiled."

"What, he couldn't do it at Natalya's place?" Lovino asked as he put the DVD back into its case with a snap.

"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that… he likes to use our apartment for the first time with someone new. He thinks it's more special."

"But Natalya's not 'new'."

"There's..." he trailed off, not knowing where he could possibly go with that to make it sound normal, even for Alfred.

Lovino didn't take long to get exactly what he meant, and burst out laughing. "Yeah! Yeah you can stay." He decided between fits of laughter.

"Ve… Fratello, what does he mean? Are he and Natalya not going out anymore? That's so sad…"

"Forget about it. Just go get some spare sheets so we can set up the couch."

"But what does he mean?"

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

And yes! America/Netherlands! Why? Because I wanted to in _If we Shadows_ and everyone I asked said it didn't fit with the story. But it does now! And I enjoy crack pairings.

Being a grammar Nazi, writing texts kills little bits of my soul, but we all know Al would never spell anything correctly if he didn't have to, so my soul has to die… luckily I stole some souls from the IB kids, so I've got plenty to spare.

Dominic is Seborga.

and... OMGCANADAFINALLYWONAGOLDMEDA LYESSSSS!


	25. The Valentine's Day Battle

Matthew inhaled, long and deep, clutching the gun to his chest. He held the breath for a moment, before letting it out as quietly as possible. He knew that from where he perched, no one would see him before he saw them, but that didn't shake the feeling of uneasiness that coursed through him.

He was lying down on a few boards set hurriedly down across the branches of a particularly leafy oak, waiting for a target.

A rustle in the bushes below caught his eyes, and he glanced down at the figure that appeared, leaving his back completely exposed to the sniper.

With a small grin, he adjusted his aim, and pulled the trigger without a second thought.

"Aw shit Mattie! Wherever you are, you're an asshole!" Alfred shouted, glaring at the red paint he brought to his gloves from where it had hit his back.

The Canadian dared not chuckle, even as his brother stormed off toward the dead zone, lest someone nearby hear him.

Yes, this was definitely the best way to spend Valentine's Day. A paintball battle royale with all of their friends from school. Well, mostly just Alfred's copious amounts friends. Only Gilbert, Katyusha, Tino, and the Vargas twins were there by Matthew's invite.

Almost immediately after gearing up, he'd scouted out a small base in the tree, absolutely perfect for a sniping post. Tino had probably done the same elsewhere, he knew, so he'd have to climb down eventually and go looking for him.

As Alfred disappeared from view, he kind of hoped that someone else had gotten Tino out first. Honestly, he didn't want to see the Finn ever again while in full battle mode. The image had haunted him for weeks last time.

{}}{{}

Lovino glared at Feliciano, who _had_ to be stepping on every twig in the entire forest. The only reason he hadn't shot him yet was because his wailing of betrayal would be even louder than his walking. He really never enjoyed things like paintball, but he'd be a liar if he said that he hadn't been quick to say yes. Matthew had run up to them with the plan, looking as excited as if someone had just told him it was Christmas again, and Lovino had agreed even before his brother could.

Speaking of which… "Lovino! Someone's coming."

"_Sí_, I heard them." He ducked behind a nearby tree, dragging Feliciano behind him. Carefully, he peered around, gun first, and fired several rounds into the moving bushes.

Moments later, Katyusha emerged, splattered with dark violet. (He'd wanted green, but Alfred had insisted that they all use Valentine's-related colours) "Oh! I'm so sorry Lovino!" She wailed.

"Why're you sorry?"

Almost immediately, a gun was pressed against his back. "Too easy." Natalya muttered coldly. "_Дзякуй Кацюша_!" She called to her sister, who just waved sadly, and headed off. "Now, you're going to be good, and surrender, yes?"

"Feliciano! Why aren't you shooting her?"

"I'm sorry _fratello_…" He turned around to see his brother holding a little white flag, and Willem standing behind him.

"You have _got _to be shitting me." He growled, dropping his gun. Just as he did so, someone fired off two shots from somewhere to their left. The first hit Natalya on the shoulder, catching in her long hair. The second his Willem right in the chest, just above Feli's head.

"Alfred!" She shrieked once she was the bright red now stuck in her hair. "Get out here and explain yourself! This will take forever to clean!"

"Ve… but that's not Alfredo's colour. He got dark red." That was the drawback to the American limiting their colour selection. It was all in varying shades and there was no real way of telling who hit who at a glance.

"So who's is _this_?"

"I don't know."

With a wordless snarl, she whirled around, and followed Willem to the dead zone, muttering curses along the way.

Once they were out of earshot, Lovino turned to the direction the shots had come from. "Mateo? That was you, wasn't it?"

In the tree nearby, some of the branches rustled, and were pushed away, revealing the Canadian's grinning face. "You're welcome, by the way."

"How do you know I won't shoot you, now that I know where you are?"

"Because you can't shoot when you're dead." He said very matter-of-factly.

"What're you…?" But he didn't get the chance to finish before he heard the shot, and felt it hit his back. "Feli?"

"Sorry Lovi!" The younger chirped, not really sounding sorry at all. If anything, he looked rather proud of his work. The white paint stood out rather nicely against Lovino's dark armour. "But this is war, right?"

"Right." He muttered. "Hey Mateo! I'm coming up!"

"What? Why? You have to go to the dead zone!"

"You really think I want to hang around with a bunch of your brother's friends and hear them whine about who got them out?"

"Your call."

He kicked his abandoned gun to the side, and watched Feliciano disappear into the trees before grabbing a low branch and beginning his ascent.

"You could've brought me your gun. I might need it later."

"You'll be fine."

"And… you know there's not a whole lot of room up here, right?" He asked tentatively.

"That's okay." From where he was, Lovino could see a crook in a branch above Matthew that would be perfect for sitting on. What he didn't see was how red the Canadian's face was.

{}}{{}

In the dead zone, about a dozen teens were waiting, all wearing spots in of varied shades of pink and purple. The amount of silver among them, however, was rather alarming. Over half of them had been downed by Tino Väinämöinen.

They all looked up at the new arrival, also showing three silver spots. Feliciano pouted as he flopped down next to Gilbert. "He's really good…"

"Yeah. Tino's always been a great shot. I really would've preferred it if he'd gotten me out rather than Lizzie."

"Elizaveta's here too?"

"Yep. Apparently Kiku asked Alfred to invite her. She wants to keep an eye on things. Speaking of which, where are they?"

"Oh, I got _fratello_ out."

"So how come he's not here?" If he found it surprising that Feliciano had shot his own brother, he didn't show it.

"He stayed to hang out with Mateo."

Gilbert smirked at that. "She'll be pretty happy about that. I think Kiku said something about getting pictures of them once he was out. I didn't really know how much stalking went into all of this."

"So did he get out?"

"Hell yeah! Shot him myself!"

From across the area, Alfred's head shot up. "No way Kiku's out! He's a ninja, he'd never get hit, and especially not by someone like you!"

"Suit yourself, but I know for a fact that he's chilling out in a tree somewhere, wearing my colour proudly." The albino said with a shrug, which only served to make Alfred even more irritated.

"Oh yeah? And just what colour is that?"

The smug grin on Gilbert's face only grew as he replied, "fuchsia."

Alfred snorted at that. "What a sissy colour."

"Hey! Only _real_ men pick fuchsia! Which is why I shot Kiku with it. He was manly enough to take it."

Alfred still refused to believe him, and turned to talk with the others around him, decidedly ignoring Gilbert.

"So did you really shoot him?" Feliciano asked quietly, not wanting to start another scene.

"_Ja_, of course! Right square over his heart. A death-shot if I ever saw one. Then he ran off to find Mattie and stalk."

"It's things like that that got the club shut down… the principal thought that it was a bad kind of stalking. He thought it was creepy."

'_Well, it kind of is.'_ Gilbert thought with a grimace. But there was no way he could say that to Feli. It would break his heart. "Well he's just jealous of our awesome match-making skills. Y'know, if it weren't for stalking, half of the closeted community of our school would still be balls-deep in said closet!"

"So you think we'll succeed?"

"Absolutely! And then we'll just sit back, and watch them be happy while Lizzie runs around snapping pictures, and making them play dress up."

"Dress up?"

Gilbert shuddered at a sudden vision of his trip to Hungary, and the gaping vortex that was the closet door, which led to a whole other room, filled with costumes that he'd rather never think of again.

"Yeah. Lizzie has a lot of weird hobbies."

"Like getting people together?"

"Yup."

"And playing dress up?"

"_Ja_ Feli… playing dress up."

They both looked up with a start as yet another person walked in.

"Hello everyone." Kiku said calmly, while Alfred freaked out about how impossible it was for his 'ninja buddy' to have been hit, especially by a 'dick like Gilbert'. Because sure enough, there was a big fuchsia stain over his heart.

Gilbert never let the grin leave his face, especially not when everyone else in the dead zone got up to high-five him for the shot.

{}}{{}

"So really Lovino, how come you stayed up here? This can't be very fun for you."

"Hey, I get to see more people get shot, how is that _not_ fun?"

Matthew just chuckled, and checked his ammo. "Hey, do you want to be helpful?"

"Not really." Lovino groaned with a stretch. The branch was actually quite comfortable. "But I get the feeling I'm going to anyway."

"Think you could go scout out where Tino is?"

"Isn't that against the rules?"

The Canadian turned around with a grin. "They're just guidelines, really."

Lovino's laughter caught the ear of the other last player. Tino turned at the faint sound, and smirked. It was way too easy. By his count, he'd gotten ten people out, and there were only twenty-one there. Matthew would've gotten the other nine pretty easily. That meant that it was down to the two of them, and the hunting would begin.

But now it appeared that Matthew hadn't picked up the slack like he'd expected. He clicked his tongue in faint disappointment. "We'll need to have a chat, Matti, you've gotten soft."

He watched curiously as someone dropped out of a nearby tree, and crept off in the other direction. _'Vargas… but I was sure he was out.'_ His gaze shifted to the tree that the Italian had come from, and a smirk settled in place. Reverse sniping was a speciality of his.

{}}{{}

"You went in the wrong direction."

"I said I was sorry. I shouldn't have even bothered to help you in the first place, so quit your bitching." Lovino muttered, peeling off his suit. Matthew was still sitting on a bench, glaring at the silver paint on his helmet.

"He couldn't even _see_ me, and he got a head shot. All because you fall heavier than Alfred!"

"Don't push the blame on other people like your brother, I would've seen him fall from a mile away." Tino said cheerfully as he walked into the changing room behind them. "And that was a horrible trick you tried to pull Matti."

"He got out, and started trying to bug me, so I sent him back to the dead zone. There was no trickery being pulled." Matthew lied neatly.

"Don't worry about it, I would've done the same. Except I would've picked my spy better."

"I didn't really have much of a choice."

"Between me and Feliciano, you'd pick me ten out of nine times."

"Not after this, I wouldn't." He turned to Tino with a heavy sigh. "He turned his back on his brother to thank me for saving their asses, and you know how Ludwig's turned Feli into a little war machine, he'd shoot his own mother."

As the Finn nodded, Lovino snorted loudly and interrupted, "_I'd_ shoot my own mother, it's really not that difficult of a thing to do."

"You shouldn't say stuff like that. She might have us bugged."

"Oh good." He took a deep breath and shouted in rapid-fire Italian, "_mama! You're a total bitch sometimes, you know that_?_ And I'd shoot you if I could_! _By the way, I'm gay, so kiss your dreams of screwing up your grand kids good bye! And you'll never see a dime from any of my future violin concerts, you money-grubber_! That takes care of that."

The two blonds doubled over laughing. "What did you say?"

"Nothing important, really." He replied with a shrug. "Now come on, your brother promised chocolate at the end of this whole thing, and I'm feeling about ready for lunch too."

Besides the loss, both Matthew and Lovino would agree that it was the best Valentine's Day ever. Nothing says peace and love like a paint bullet to the heart.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Translations  
><em>Дзякуй Кацюша - <em>Thanks Katyusha! (Belorusian)

Next time! Fluff you could choke on!


	26. Lovino is a Great Brother and Other Lies

"Mattie, I think Feliciano still has my spare controller. Could you get it?"

"Why don't you get it yourself?" Matthew shot back. Alfred had been spending even more time at the Vargas' apartment than Matthew as soon as he'd learned that Feliciano enjoyed video games almost as much as Kiku. He'd been looking for a new gaming partner for ages, and the younger twin provided him a much-needed gaming buddy who could co-op for Portal and keep him from having a panic attack while forging through horror games. Feli made up for Kiku's less-than empathetic nature in that aspect.

Unfortunately, it had done nothing bat cause more work for Matthew when Alfred was constantly lugging stuff between the apartments, and forgetting something almost every single time.

"C'mon bro! Don't you love me?"

"Sometimes I wonder."

"You're adopted."

"If only I were that lucky." He'd already slid his shoes on, and was out the door. "Lazy ass."

His foot had barely touched the top stair when the Vargas' apartment door swung open, revealing a severely pissed off Lovino. "_No way am I telling that stupid woman a thing_!" He snarled to Feliciano, who stood with a pained expression playing across his features.

"_Please Lovino! Just give it a try, she'll understand._"

"_Not a chance in fucking hell_!"

"What's going-?" Matthew started, only to be brushed aside as Lovino stormed down the stairs.

"_There's no need to go away Lovi_!" Feliciano pleaded uselessly. His already crestfallen face crumbled even further as his brother got into the car, and sped through the gate. "Oh. Sorry about that Mateo. How much did you hear?"

"It wouldn't matter if I heard the whole thing. I don't speak a word of Italian, remember?"

"Right." He was still watching the gate mournfully. "We have to get into town Mateo."

"What?"

"Have to find _fratello_. Before he gets himself hurt or something."

"Won't he come back?"

"Not for awhile. You'll help me find him, won't you Mateo?"

He didn't even wait for the Italian to start begging with his puppy-eyes. "We'll take Alfred's car."

"Great! We'll split up once we get to town okay?"

{}}{{}

Matthew had planted himself before the last building he hadn't checked. The single spire of the bell-tower of the church reached for the heavens praised by the congregation normally inside. But it was a Thursday, so no services. It probably wasn't even open. And yet, when he pulled on the wrought-iron handle, the door glided open on well-oiled hinges, allowing him entrance into the dim hall.

"Just a quick check." He whispered to himself. Being alone in the gaping sanctuary made him feel like he was intruding or something, so the faster he was out, the better.

He nearly bolted for the front door when the organist began rehearsing. A series of heavy chords, followed by running melodies that slowly relaxed him from the initial fright. Stairs to his right seemed like the best option. If Lovino was in the sanctuary at all, this way he could spot him without being seen by the organist.

He took the first few tentative steps, hoping that they wouldn't creak, then tiptoed up to the top when he'd confirmed that they wouldn't betray him. It was nice to know that some old buildings could still be maintained.

Several rows of pews stood empty on the balcony, staring out over the empty sanctuary. The dark-stained wood was cast in an array of colour from the setting sun prying through the stain glass window behind him. Instead of the usual biblical images and characters, these shards had been artistically arranged into a twisting array of vines and colourful geometry.

It was one particularly bright shade of green that marked the light cast on Lovino's form, curled over his knees on the far side of a pew.

Matthew opened his mouth to call out to the other teen, but stopped, thinking that Lovino could be in the middle of prayer. He wasn't exactly the most religious person, but it still seemed rude to interrupt something that personal.

Carefully, he stepped down in front of the pew, and sat on the opposite edge as his friend, listening to the organist play while waiting, trying hard as he could not to make a sound.

"You gonna keep sitting there like you expect to burst into flames, or did you want something?"

He turned with a start to look at Lovino, who was still hunched over. "S-sorry. I thought you were…"

"Yeah, I got that. No, I was just thinking."

"About…?" Matthew prodded, sliding across the polished surface to the Italian's side.

"Stuff that me and Feli were talking about earlier. He sent you out looking for me, didn't he?"

"Sort of. I was kind of worried too when you stormed off like that. I mean, if looks could kill!" His weak attempt at humour went unnoticed, and the trills of the organ filled in the silence.

"Feliciano wants me to tell our parents that I'm gay." Lovino muttered at last.

"And you don't want to?"

Lovino stared at the other teen for a moment, brows furrowed in confusion, as if he'd been expecting Matthew to be shocked at his revelation. But he shook his head, and continued. "Obviously. The bitch-queen would disown me."

"Then don't tell them. Simple as that."

"The _idiota_ wouldn't get it. It's not that simple with him. He's so morally black-and-white, it's impossible to get away with anything."

"What do you mean?"

"If I don't tell them, then I'm lying. But if I do, then they won't react negatively because it's the truth. That's what he thinks."

"You don't give Feli enough credit sometimes." Matthew sighed, shaking his head with a smirk. "He just thinks that you're lying to yourself, not you parents… Ow!" He yelped as Lovino reached over, and flicked his forehead.

"That was stupid and cheesy, and you should stop talking until you've learned your lesson."

"That was unnecessary." The blond grumbled, rubbing his forehead. "I'll admit, it's still pretty naïve, but it's not as stupid as what you think his reasoning is."

"You're still on about that?"

"That's why you're here, isn't it?"

"Not entirely."

"What else then?"

"What are you, a damn therapist? Why don't you just go back and tell that _idiota_ that he can stop worrying? I'll be back before the gates close."

"Hey, you don't want to talk about it? Okay. But there's no need to start being an ass about it again."

"Fine." He heaved a sigh, and sat up straight. "I guess I _have_ been a bit harsh on Feliciano."

"An understatement, but go on."

Lovino glared at Matthew out of the corner of his eye, but continued, "He stresses me out sometimes. I know he's not a complete moron, but sometimes… _Cazzo_, sometimes I can't stop worrying about who he talks to, and what he's going to tell them. He's totally open with absolutely everyone. Just the other day, he told some delivery guy all about this painting he's working on! I have no clue how many people he's told about me, and I sort of want to strangle him for it."

"Well you could try being the one he talks to instead of strangers. He just wants to talk to people."

"He could talk to me any time!" He protested.

"Are you kidding? You once sent him a text saying, and I quote, 'I'm too tired to deal with your everything. Reread this every time you feel the need to talk to me.' Yeah, that's really open to chat."

"Hey, I admitted to being harsh with him, but he should be used to it by now."

"My point is, he shouldn't _have_ to put up with you being a sour puss twenty-four, seven. That isn't fair to ask of your own brother. You have to be there for _him_ too sometimes. Be a bit more patient when he wants to be especially chatty, or put up with Ludwig. You know, be nice."

"And that'll make all my problems disappear?" Lovino asked skeptically.

"Well… no. It won't change your mother's opinions, so you'll still be worried about it, but at least then you'll have Feli to talk to when it gets rough. And you've still got me and Al, even if Al's not the best listener… and there's Antonio too. You grew up together, right? He seems to care about you."

The Italian scoffed lightly, but otherwise, didn't reply.

"So what do you say? Ready to go home and give your little brother a big hug and apologize for being a dick?"

There was a pause, as if Lovino was weighing his options heavily. Finally, he turned to Matthew, raised his hand, and flicked the Canadian's forehead again with a snap. "Yeah, sure, let's head back."

"_Merde_! Uncalled for Lovi!"

"So are your stupid motivational speeches. Now are we going back, or not?"

"Yeah, yeah." He waited until Lovino was already headed down the stairs before adding a muttered, 'jackass' and hurrying to catch up.

{}}{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Aww! They bonded!


	27. A Surprise Visit

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm so late, but finding the movie took forever and…" Matthew trailed off when he walked into the twins' apartment, and saw, not only Lovino and Feliciano, but a pair of adults sitting in the living area. Feliciano seemed oddly subdued, and Lovino looked even more annoyed than usual, if that was even possible. But the couple was the absolute worst; both seemed to be observing him with cold disdain.

It took him five seconds to guess that they were the twin' parents, and seven more to develop a metal game for himself that Gilbert would be proud of.

Figure out with one of the stiff-backed, completely serious people were in any way related to Feliciano and his grandfather.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt." He insisted quickly, before attempting to retreat back through the door.

"Ve~ Mateo! You don't have to leave! Come say hi! _Mamma_,_ papa_, this is Mateo, he's in my art class!"

Mentally cursing his luck, Matthew stepped forward, slightly shocked as their father turned to snap at the youngest, "what have I told you about making that ridiculous noise?" But he kept his polite smile in place as he held out a hand, which both adults shook stiffly. "I'm Matthew Williams. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise, I'm sure." Mrs. Vargas replied. "The name sounds familiar… I believe I've met your mother once or twice. We attend many of the same art galas. Louise, correct?"

"Lucille." He corrected quietly.

"Oh that's right. Awfully _French_ name, that is. Her heritage seems to make her know everything about art."

He thought back to all the galas his mother had returned from complaining about the sharp-tongued bitches who threw out insults like confetti. They were especially skilled with insults that could sound like compliments if properly worded. This was probably one of those women…

"So, are you any good, _Monsieur _Williams?"

Oh, he hated this woman already. Was there no such thing as being polite amongst snobs? If this hadn't been his friends' mother, he'd probably be retaliating with insults of his own. Unlike most of his family, he could be patient with terrible people. Francis would've verbally attacked her for mocking his culture, and Alfred would've been at her throat the minute she got his mother's name wrong. Luckily, Feliciano leapt to save him from the awkwardness. "He's really good _mamma_! We work together for most of our projects now!"

"Well isn't that nice." She replied smoothly, though her eyes remained cold. "So I'll be looking for your work in galleries soon?"

"Not at all. Feliciano is exaggerating, that's all."

"Hm. Well, you boys look like you're trying to have your own visit. We should be going back to our hotel now."

"Oh… okay _mamma_. Will you be coming back at all tomorrow?" Feliciano asked.

"If we're not too busy."

"Okay! Try not to be busy then! We miss you guys!"

"Feliciano, do remember what I've told you about acting like you're three. It won't get you anywhere in life."

"Okay then _mother_, love you too." Lovino snapped sarcastically. "Now I vaguely remember you saying that you had to leave, and I do appreciate it when you keep your promises. It sets a good example for Feliciano."

Mrs. Vargas turned slowly to face her eldest son. To Matthew's eyes, she grew at least a foot taller, as if building up her rage. He expected an explosion, but when she finally spoke, her words emerged in a thin, icy line. "And what exactly would _you_ know about setting an example for that boy?"

Behind their mother, Feliciano's face was one contort of '_shut up Lovino_' but the other continued nonetheless.

"Clearly a hell of a lot more than you. At least I was _there_ for most of his rearing. As I recall, _Nonno_ did all of the leg work, and you just carted us out when it suited your damned image."

"Lovino, that's no way to speak to your mother, now if you had any sense you'd stop this idiocy and…" Mr. Vargas started, but his wife motioned for him to stop.

"So tell me, Lovino. What's so wrong about allowing that half-senile old man the right to spend time with his grandsons? You're always like this. You run your _filthy _mouth around your brother, abusing him, and then the minute someone with every right to discipline him chooses to do so, then suddenly he's a china doll."

"Because only those _responsible_ enough to care for a child have the right to decide what behaviour is excusable and what isn't! And as the Queen bitch, the only person you've ever seemed to care about is yourself. You wouldn't know the first thing about being responsible for a child!"

The sharp crack of palm against skin silenced the entire apartment. Matthew's mouth hung agape, though there was a possibility that it'd been like that since the argument started. Feliciano, however, wore a disturbingly cold expression, even as his parents left the apartment without another word.

"L-Lovino? Are you okay?"

At first, he didn't reply. He hadn't even bothered to move his head from where it had turned under the force of his mother's hand. Then, after a pregnant pause, he turned to face them, and nodded. "It's no big deal."

The fierce flash in his eyes said otherwise.

"You're bleeding."

Lovino raised a hand to his face, where indeed, one of the woman's manicured nails must've caught and torn the skin. "I'll take care of it." He muttered, turning back to go to the bathroom.

"_Fratello_. Why did you yell at her? You know it never gets you anywhere."

"She insulted you. Not just that, she insulted you in front of a complete stranger, whose mother she insulted in almost the same breath. The bitch has no tact, and it pisses me off." And with that said, he stalked out of the living room. But instead of going to the bathroom, he marched straight into his bedroom, and slammed the door shut.

"A-are visits with your parents normally like… like that?" Matthew asked Feliciano, who was biting his lip nervously.

"Sometimes. _Mamma_ has some sort of manipulation thing that leads to her clashing with Lovi all the time. They'd argue, then go off alone and cry. And by morning, you'd never guess that they'd been screaming themselves hoarse."

"Yikes."

"But it's not always that bad!" The Italian insisted. "Sometimes they get along really well. When we were kids, she used to take him to the movies. There was this theatre that played all kinds of old gangster movies, and stuff. He loved it, having _mamma _all to himself for a few hours…"

"Sounds nice. It's too bad that… well, you know."

"_Sí_." He turned to the back hall, where Lovino had disappeared. "I hope he'll be okay…"

"Want me to check on him?"

Feliciano shook his head slowly, then paused in thought, and started nodding. "If you don't mind. He doesn't like me helping anymore."

"Sure." He abandoned the plastic bag of movies that he hadn't even realized he'd been clinging tightly to, and headed over to the far bedroom. He knocked twice softly, before sliding the door open, and poking his head through. "Hey."

Lovino grunted in recognition from his spot on the bed, but otherwise didn't reply.

"You want a band-aid or something for that?" He asked, indicating the fresh cut.

"No. 'm fine."

"Well then, is there anything else you want to get off your chest?"

Again, Lovino shook his head. "I think I covered all I needed to with _her_."

"Okay." He sat down on the dark green bedspread next to his friend, and just sat there, silent for a while.

"Could you just stay here for a minute?"

"I'm not going anywhere." Matthew promised.

He mumbled his thanks, and then let his head loll over onto the other's shoulder. "It's really tiring sometimes, playing the bad guy. Especially when she's around, making it worse…"

"You don't _have_ to play the bad guy."

"Somebody has to. Or else she takes complete control. And… and I couldn't let her do that to Feli. Not ever."

Matthew had never seen this side of Lovino before. The one that made him forget the foul-mouthed fireball, and introduce him to this humble, and frightened boy, who now wept silently into his shoulder.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Sorry, I know it's kind of cliché to make their mother a total bitch-face… at least I think it is. I've read two other fics that make her a bitch-face, but to be honest, I don't read enough high school AU fics with them to know all these things. I thought it might work well with the story…

I regret nothing!

-Scampers off to secret writer's lair-


	28. Failing Grades & Grumpy Pillows

If anyone had told Elizaveta that when she walked into the study hall on a Saturday afternoon, that she'd see Gilbert hunched over several textbooks and binders, she would've laughed right to their face, and walked away.

But sure enough, there he was. Before seeing the albino, Mei had started giggling uncontrollably at the stunned look on her friend's face. But then she followed Elizaveta's gaze, and her own jaw dropped at the sight.

"No way." She breathed.

"Oh so you can see it too? Good. I'm not the only crazy one."

Hesitantly, the two approached Gilbert, who looked up with a start when they both sat down beside him. "H-hey Lizzie." He stammered, pale cheeks suddenly flaming with embarrassment.

"Hey yourself. What's with the sudden change in study habits? I thought studying was for the unawesome."

"It's also for the failing." He grumbled, flipping through yet another textbook.

"You're _failing_?"

"_Ja_. We got another early contact report back yesterday, and I've got forties in all my classes... except the ones I have thirties in."

"Oh Gilbo! Even PE? That was your best subject!"

"Yeah, but you skip all the wrong days, and bomb too many tests, and you get me right now."

"This is my fault, isn't it? I've been asking you to skip classes for the operation, and now…"

"Oh don't flatter yourself Lizzie. I screwed up, that's all. It has nothing to do with your damn hobbies."

"Sorry… do you want some help anyway?"

He stared at the girl in disbelief, as though she'd just asked if he wanted to do a strip tease for the entire school. Actually, he'd be more likely to say yes to something like that.

"_You_ want to help _me_."

"Why not? I hate to admit it, but it's the least I can do for all the work you've done for us."

"What about the operation? I'm pretty sure you can't juggle your own school work, playing matchmaker, _and_ tutoring."

"There hasn't really been any activity lately. Actually, since the twins' parents visited, things have been really quiet between them."

"Being around that bitch does that to you."

"You know her?"

"I know _of_ her. And trust me, none of it's pretty."

"Well, I figure there's nothing we can really do at this point then to let them work everything out on their own. So I've got time to kill."

"Well… so long as you're not screwing with me, why not? I could use the help."

"I genuinely want to help, okay?"

He grinned, and handed her a textbook. "Well then. Know anything about extreme chemical bonding?"

"Are you kidding? I've made my own hobby out of chemistry and bonding!"

"No puns, please! We've made it this far without them! I don't think I can tolerate another '07!"

"Come on Gil! Chin up! I'm gonna help you pass every single one of your ridiculously difficult classes that you somehow thought were good ideas!"

"I'm going to fail even more, aren't I?"

"You doubt me?"

"Obviously."

{}}{{}

"Elizaveta, you know that Lovino and Feliciano's birthday is this weekend, right?" Kiku asked as they walked to class the next morning.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well. Perhaps you should be thinking about what Matthew might do then instead of Gilbert's grades."

She paused; weighing her options, and then shook her head. "No. Nothing special's going to happen as far as I know. Besides, Gilbert's been my friend since we were kids. I can't just abandon him when he needs help."

"Do you want me to attend and report?"

"No, you take a break." She replied absent-mindedly, flipping open her phone. "I'll see you tomorrow…"

"A-alright then."

He watched her go with growing concern. He'd known Elizaveta for almost three years now. He'd thought that he could predict her every mood and action. But now, just when he was sure that she'd go right back to business, she started acting like… He gave himself a mental slap. This wasn't the time to be thinking like that.

No, if Elizaveta wasn't going to do anything special for the Vargas' birthday, then he'd have to do it himself.

Time to make a call. "Alfred?"

"_Yo Kiks! What's up man_?"

"Are you celebrating the Vargas' birthday this Friday?"

"_Yeah... probably. I dunno, they'll probably just come over and play games, and we'll give them their presents or something_."

"Why not do something more special? This is the first birthday you'll celebrate with them after all."

"_Well... I guess you're right. Hey! What about a surprise party? Everyone likes surprise parties, right_?"

"Of course."

"_Sweet! I'll talk to Mattie! We need a cake, stat_!"

He hung up with a rare smirk. Alfred's enthousiasm was unmatched when it came to parties, and would no doubtedly catch his brother along for the ride. Problem solved.

{}}{{}

Balloons loomed in every corner of the apartment, and red, silver, and gold streamers clung to every other surface. Matthew had agreed to Alfred's plan of skipping afternoon classes to prepare the surprise party after much deliberation, and his brother threatening to make the pancakes himself if he didn't go.

But now, the pancakes were safe in Matthew's capable hands. If the twins thought that they had making pasta down to an art, they'd never seen the god of pancakes in action. He could probably whip up a prize-winning batch in his sleep, or at least, that was Alfred's review of 'the golden, fluffy wonders'.

"Are you at least going to _pretend_ you didn't offer to set up the party just to get out of school, Al?"

"I'm hurt that you think so Mattie. I got all the balloons and stuff out, didn't I?"

"Yes, and I asked you to grab the presents from downstairs almost an hour ago, which you still haven't done."

"Huh? Oh… Yeah, on it." The American paused the round of _Dead Rising_ he'd started, and sprinted back to their own dorm for the gifts.

Just moments after he returned with the colourful parcels from them both, the door flew open again, revealing Antonio, and Francis, slightly out of breath. "We ran all the way from the school!" Francis explained quickly. "Didn't want to end up behind them or something."

"Sure. Do you think Ludwig will make it in time?"

"You mean he's not here yet? I thought for sure he would've beaten us…" The Spaniard started. "I hope he's okay."

"Oh he'll be just fine! Unless of course he had a heart attack when he saw Gilbert studying!" Francis teased.

"Gilbert? Studying? Sorry Frenchy, I think I heard you wrong." Alfred said, eyebrows rising in shock.

"_Mais non_! He even got Elizaveta to tutor him. I was surprised as well."

A heavy knock on the door announced Ludwig's arrival, as well as his reason for being late. The twins' younger cousin, Dominic threw a meek smile to the other assembled teens, before kicking off his shoes and joining them.

"I almost passed them on my way here." Ludwig started. "They'll be here any moment."

"You sure they didn't see you? I don't know about Lovino, but Feli would be suspicious if you went sprinting across the parking lot at random." Matthew asked, flicking yet another pancake onto the steadily growing mountain.

"No. They seemed preoccupied."

"What're you making over there?" Antonio asked, wandering over to the kitchen.

"Pancakes. Seeing as _someone_ forgot to get the stuff I needed to make a real cake." He replied, glaring pointedly at Alfred. "I think there are some strawberries we can add to them to make it more dessert-like."

"I think _poco _Lovi will like them!" The Spaniard said brightly. "Francis told me all about your baking, and I'll bet it could bring a smile, even to that grumpy face of his!"

"He was probably exaggerating. Francis does that all the time." Matthew argued softly, blush already creeping into his cheeks.

"Do not listen to a single word _Mathieu _says! Make him take the complement!" Francis shouted.

"Shush! I think I hear them!" Dominic hissed, and indeed, a certain, chipper voice floated into the apartment through an open window, alerting everyone of the twins' arrival. Alfred was the one to make the mad dash for the light switch before diving into a needlessly dramatic heap around the corner.

Matthew hurriedly snapped off the stovetop, and pulled the platter of pancakes to the floor with him, as if they'd take notice of the snack before the large group of cheering teenagers.

The key scraped against the lock, and Feliciano swung the door open, flooding the darkened apartment with daylight. When the lights flicked on, everyone leapt to their feet with a loud cry of 'surprise!'

Feliciano broke out into a grin, and ran into the apartment to greet his friends with a kiss on each cheek, and a big hug. "Ve! So this is why you all disappeared so early!"

Lovino, on the other hand, was a little more preoccupied in asking how in the hell they'd all gotten inside, to which Alfred cryptically replied that he 'had connections of his own.' (Feliciano had given him a spare key a while ago for when he forgot a game or something and they weren't home.)

Antonio gave each twin one of his special

**'Tonio-Approved Hugs of Happiness ©**

before returning to the kitchen to help Matthew put the finishing touches on the "cake" with strawberries, and generous dollops of whipped cream. (Real whipped cream. None of that Cool Whip wannabe crap, much to Alfred's loudly voiced dismay) And only once everyone was settled in with at least three of the sweetened pancakes did the gifts begin to emerge and accumulate on the coffee table.

Lovino's first reaction was to glare at the gift from Antonio without even opening it, and throw it at him. "How long are you going to keep dragging that joke through the mud, _idiota_?" He snapped.

Antonio pouted, and unwrapped the tomato-shaped pillow himself. "But this one has a grumpy face, just like you!" He insisted.

A collective chuckle rippled through the group as the pillow was passed around. It _did_ look an awful lot like the scowling Italian, and eventually it was forced into his hands so that everyone could take pictures.

"If any one of those ends up on Facebook, I will murder you all."

"Ve… but it's really cute _fratello_! I think it'd look good on your bed with the other tomato pillows!" Feli insisted.

Alfred's expression instantly brightened. "_Other_ pillows?" He practically purred. And before Lovino could even move, he sprinted across the room to the bedrooms, and hurried into Lovi's. He returned triumphantly holding a grand total of six bright red plush pillows, each with a little green cap waving merrily as the American half-skipped back. "Screw Facebook, Vargas. This shit's gonna be a meme!"

"Can we just get on with this?" Lovino snapped, shoving a present from Francis into his brother's hands. "Here. Distract them or something."

"Okay!" He tore into the paper, exponentially better wrapped than Antonio's half-assed job, (although to be fair, pillows are _really_ hard to wrap) revealing a thick tome covering almost all of the Italian's favourite artists. "Wow! Francis, where'd you get this?"

"It was a lucky find." The Frenchman replied with a shrug.

After that, the piles steadily shrank away from the table, and the once massive stack of pancakes had been reduced to a pile of paper plates and crumbs. Besides the pillow incident, Lovino was more than willing to politely thank everyone, even though he'd be a terrible liar if he said he wasn't disappointed. Everyone seemed to think to get him music or violin-themed… everything. He'd humoured them with a laugh when someone pointed out that there seemed to be a reoccurring theme happening. But it sort of killed him a bit to realize that's all he'd ever let himself be to everyone else.

Music, and grumpy tomatoes.

Matthew's gift was the only one left sitting on the table, and he swallowed a heavy sigh before reaching for it. What would this one be? A set of treble clef bookends? Or maybe it'd be a double-whammy of a tomato-shaped rosin case.

Never mind that he already owned one of those, as a Christmas gift from Antonio years ago.

He peeled back the gold paper, and felt his jaw drop at what lay behind it. The black and white image of James Cagney scowled up at him from the cover of _The Roaring Twenties_. Behind that, were three other titles that he hadn't seen in years.

"How did you…?" He stammered, not taking his eyes off of the cases.

"Internet." Matthew replied simply. It wasn't what he was going to ask, but somehow that didn't seem to matter.

"_Grazie_." Lovino murmured. He stood up, faced the Canadian, and then did the unthinkable.

He threw his arms around the other's shoulders, and gave him a quick, but warm hug. "_Grazie_." He repeated softly.

"N-no problem." Matthew answered uncertainly.

When Lovino let go, he became fully aware of the thick silence. "What're you looking at?" He huffed, sitting back down on the couch.

"Nothin' man!" Alfred answered quickly. "I was just thinking I wish we had more of those pancakes! Say Mattie…"

"No Al, there's no more batter."

With the subject successfully changed thanks to Alfred's stomach, the party turned into one loud conversation that lasted well into the night, before someone finally realized that they still had class in the morning, and the apartment emptied pretty quickly.

{}}{{}

"Hey Lizzie! You might be a genius!" Gilbert crowed as he burst into the Hungarian's apartment, waving three test papers in the air. "I almost aced all of them. Although, most of it was probably my own awesomeness."

"Congrats Gil. Glad I could help." Elizaveta replied with a smile from the couch. "Did you tell your _chicken_ the good news yet?"

"No, no I didn't. I told _Gilbird_. But I haven't told any chickens yet."

"Well good job anyway, even if you are in total denial about the chicken. Here, let me take a look at those."

"I'm gonna put them up on the fridge." He declared proudly,, handing them over.

The front door swung open again, and Feliciano hurried in, beaming from ear to ear, ignoring Elizaveta's muttered 'doesn't _anyone_ knock anymore?'

"Ve! Did Kiku get pictures? Did you see it?"

"Woah. Slow down Feli. What's up?"

"Did you have Kiku take pictures yesterday?"

"N-no, I was helping Gil here study. Why? What happened?"

The Italian's face fell at her reply. "Oh… well, it's just that _fratello_ was so happy that he hugged Mateo."

Gilbert's tests fluttered to the floor as Elizaveta gaped at him like a fish. A yaoi-deprived fish.

"No."

"…_Sí_. Everyone was really surprised…"

"No."

Slowly, she turned to face Gilbert who lost what little colour he had in his face to begin with when he realized what the look on her face meant.

She'd missed out on this shocking new step in their relationship… because she was helping _him_.

It was _his_ fault now.

"Lizzie. C'mon. Calm down, I'm sure it'll happen again, and you can always get it then…"

"I'll kill you Beilschmidt! You won't even remember what your face looked like when I'm done with you!"

"Not my awesome face!" He wailed, dodging her first launch at him, and flying for the door. "Can I at least get my tests? I really do wanna put them up on the fridge!"

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Hm... I got nothin', see you next chapter!


	29. The Photography Project

Whatever Lovino had been expecting to hear on the other end of the phone when he answered it at four in the morning, "D'you wanna take pictures with me today?" certainly wasn't anywhere near the top of the list, and thus, wasn't processed as quickly as something else might've been.

So his sleepy response of, "Who the fuck is this?" was totally understandable.

At least, that's what he tried to explain to a suddenly depressed Matthew within seconds of his question. "I didn't forget you, _idiota_! I was tired, and didn't read the caller ID, and you didn't even say it was you. How the fuck was I supposed to know?"

"Couldn't recognize my voice, that's the first step. Then you'll be forgetting my name, and mistaking me for Al…"

"Oh for the love of… I promise not to forget you, you paranoid moron. Now what did you call about? I sort of missed that?"

"I wanted to know if you'd come with me through town to get some pictures for a photography assignment. It's more fun with someone else there, and Al's impossible to wake up."

"…So you just want me to keep you company while you snap off some pictures?"

"That was the plan… Lunch is on me?"

"Where do you want me to meet you?" He sighed at last.

And that's how he ended up wandering around one of the parks in town, talking with Matthew about whatever came to mind until the blond would stop and snap a few pictures before moving on.

"Why are you wearing that _thing_? It makes you look like a housewife." Lovino muttered, referring to the red bandana Matthew had pulling back his hair.

"It's really windy." He replied, as if that should explain everything. When he glanced over at the other teen, and saw that it _hadn't_ explained everything, he continued. "I don't want my hair getting in the way of the lens. Normally I'd just tie it back, but this morning I got a stupid cowlick that won't stay back."

"Well you could easily solve that by cutting your hair. You'd look less like a girl."

"Yeah, and risk looking even _more _like Alfred? Really, if I didn't let my hair grow out, there's no way I could be recognized."

"I'd still recognize you."

"R-really?" Matthew stammered, staring in surprise at Lovino.

"Yeah really. Stop acting like I just said I've been hiding a second head or something, _Dio_!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound that surprised. It's just you normally don't say nice stuff like that."

"Well when you say it like that, you make me sound like some total jackass."

"Well…"

"Don't finish that thought."

Matthew just laughed softly, and went down on one knee to take a few pictures as the sun glinted off of the pond. The topic of the bandana (which Lovino still thought made him look like a woman) had been dropped in all the distraction.

That seemed to happen a lot to them. Lovino would complain about something, and yet Matthew could so easily steer him off-course. He'd find it annoying if it were anyone else.

"So what're you going to be up to this summer?"

"Going to our cottage in Nova Scotia." He replied absent-mindedly as he fiddled with the zoom button on some angle of the pond. "Maybe going down to Texas to visit my grandparents sometime in August. What about you?"

"Back to Venice. My parents are going to Japan together, so we'll spend it with _Nonno_, like usual."

"Why aren't you going with your parents?"

"Who'd _want_ to spend eight weeks with them? If it's not _mama_ pestering me to get a girlfriend, it's _papa_ telling me to practice more, or the both of them getting me concerts and agents. It's just annoying."

"You should meet my mom." Matthew added with a chuckle. "She's the exact opposite, and still ends up stressing herself out over us anyway. Well, you met my dad, and they're really the same in a lot of ways. They could care less what we do with our lives career-wise as long as we don't end up in prison, and still make sure to call them at least once a week. Mom still really wants grandkids though…"

"So that leaves your _idiota _of a brother to carry on all the genes?" Lovino said with a snigger.

"Oh that's a scary thought. I'm going to have nightmares now, thank you _so_ much for that!"

"Well then my job here is done."

Matthew stuck his tongue out and kept on walking. "So where do you want to go for lunch?"

"Wherever. Just no fast food."

"Deal. Just a few more pictures here, and then we can head out."

"Take your time."

He watched as Matthew ducked under several tree branches just to get a different angle. Photography would forever baffle him with how complicated they made it seem when it was just pushing buttons and playing with Photoshop. Hey, at least he was getting a free meal out of it. Plus, hanging around with Matthew was nice. It was quiet, not like with his brother or Antonio.

Just as he took the picture that he'd deemed 'perfect', a particularly strong gust of wind swept across the park, taking Matthew's bandana along with it into a tree. "Shit."

"See? Even nature was with me when I said it made you look like a woman." Just as he said it, Lovino's eyes fell on Matthew, who did indeed have a difficult cowlick. The curl had sprung up from the top of his head, and was now waving cheerfully in the wind while Matthew tried desperately to pin it down, blushing madly.

"Oh that's just priceless!" Lovino shouted, howling with laughter.

"Sh-shut up! _Bâtard_! You don't see me laughing when _your_ hair acts up!"

"Y-yeah but that… it's just…" Whatever it was became lost in his laughter, while Matthew just scowled at him.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." He muttered, walking towards the tree. "Now I have to get it back."

"Hold up! I'll get it."

"That's alright. You'll just rip it or something so I can't wear it anymore."

"No, don't worry. Besides, isn't it the man's job to get things for the little lady?" He asked mockingly, ruffling Matthew's hair before turning to the tree, where the bandana had settled on a lower branch.

"You… are an asshole." The blond muttered, now trying to straighten out the rest of his hair as well as the stubborn cowlick.

"And you couldn't live without me."

"Oh I think I'd manage just fine."

Lovino was reaching for it when he took a step into some mud from the rain the night before, and wiped out magnificently. He even slid several feet ahead along on his back.

"I suppose now would be a bad time to tell you that it's slippery, and you should be careful?" Matthew called ahead, reaching a bit more carefully to grab the garment from the tree before following Lovino's trail. He couldn't help but grin, and mutter "karma" under his breath too.

"_Cazzo_! This is going to take forever to get out!" The Italian muttered, apparently not having heard his friend's shout.

"Don't worry, I'll give you a hand washing it. But first…" He lifted the camera, and snapped a few pictures of Lovino lying in the mud, looking pissed off, and ridiculous.

"Oh I'm glad to see you're showing your true, sadistic colours. You'd better delete those."

"It's called having fun at a friend's expense Lovi. There's nothing wrong about it."

"Come on then, _idiota_, help me up!"

Matthew just chuckled, and let the camera fall from his hands to dangle around his neck as he reached for Lovino's outstretched hand. "No need for name calling. It's your own fault you slipped. I said I could get it."

"Says you. You're the one who dragged me out here so you wouldn't be lonely. You really do act like you're four y'know."

"I've told you before, four and a _half_." But he choked on his own laughter when Lovino grabbed his hand, and he felt his face flush brightly.

"Oh my deepest apologies, _Principessa_, four and a half it is." The Italian frowned as he was heaved up, and saw the new shade on Matthew's face. "You okay Mateo? I'm not _that_ heavy. Did you get sick again? Alfred _did_ say that it happens quite a lot." He reached out to place a hand on the other's forehead, but Matthew backed away, rapidly shaking his head.

"I-I'm fine, really." He stammered, quickly looking away.

But in his whirlwind of a mind, he was steadily piecing the year together, and what he was coming up with, was the answer he'd been looking for, and feared at the same time.

He was in love.

He was in love with Lovino Vargas.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!


	30. Toni Knows Best

He really was in love with Lovino.

It wasn't like this realization should surprise him. It seemed to be – for lack of a better phrase – a bad habit of his. Falling in love, that is.

It had happened before, on countless occasions. He'd meet someone who was nice to him, and suddenly, he thought it was meant to be. Luckily, reality would normally kick him in the teeth before his mind went too far, like it had with Ivan. But even before him, there'd been Willem. And before him, there'd been Gilbert, and even Francis, but only when he was really little, and didn't think there was anything wrong with wanting to marry his cousin.

But this felt different. Like it hadn't happened overnight. Probably because Lovino hadn't become nice to him overnight. Hell, he _still_ wasn't really all that nice to him. But he did seem different. At least, he was able to be himself around him and not feel uneasy, like most claimed. They hung out, and somehow looked out for one another.

But when had it become love?

His guess would be around Christmas, when Lovino had been there to support him, or maybe it was even sooner. Either way, what had been done couldn't be changed, nor could his emotions, no matter how much he willed them to.

So he fell back into his old answer of how to handle things like this. By quietly shutting himself away from the problem, and acting like nothing was wrong.

But after a week not hanging out with either Lovino or Feliciano, even Alfred was becoming suspicious.

"So how come you're not hanging around the mafia guys like you usually do?"

"They're busy."

"Right before the end of the year? No way."

"Lovino needs to practice for the concert."

"So why not go and listen like you usually do? And tell Feli to come over and game for a bit too while you're at it."

"I don't feel like it."

"Did they do something to you? 'Cause I swear if those sons of bitches hurt my baby bro then…"

"Look, I just don't want to go anywhere right now, is that a fucking crime?" Matthew snarled, leaping to his feet from the couch to begin pacing like he usually did when irritated.

"Woah Mattie, calm your shit. No, it's not a crime. I was just curious, is all."

"Well, could you just leave it be Al?"

"Sure. No problem broski."

"Thanks."

Still staring uncertainly at his brother, Alfred headed back to his room, mind beginning to wander to that new computer game Kiku had given him as an early birthday present. But first… he grabbed Matthew's phone from his bedroom, and looked up the older Vargas twin's number, and then texted from his own phone.

_If u hurt Mattie I swer ill cut u_

After a few minutes, the reply buzzed in his palm.

_Who the fuck is this?_

He was going to reply, he _really_ was. But then Kiku texted him, asking if he'd tried the new game yet, and his thoughts quickly flew to that, and he raced to tear it from the package.

{}}{{}

Something wasn't right. It was a gut feeling, settled deep in Elizaveta's gut, and it blurred her concentration on everything else. Studying, packing up for the summer, even the miniature war she was currently waging against Kiku for some particular photographs of a particular birthday party that he stubbornly refused to hand over like some parent refusing the candy their misbehaving child demands.

"Matt hasn't bought his concert ticket, has he?" She finally asked Mei over breakfast one morning. "You're on the committee, you should know, right?"

The brunette set her spoon down with a clink, and rested her head in her palm to think. "I'm not sure… I don't think so."

"Why wouldn't he? They're such good friends, it would only make sense for him to go support Lovino, wouldn't it?"

"Maybe he thinks Lovi will just get embarrassed if he shows up."

"That would never stop him from going. In fact, that'd just make him want it even more."

"Maybe he just forgot. Or thought that he'd buy his ticket at the door."

"Maybe." She didn't sound too convinced. "I'll buy one for him today anyway, and give it to him at lunch."

"You shouldn't. He's not an idiot Lizzie. He'll figure out what we're planning if you keep pushing him to go. And you know how flustered he gets."

"You're right." Tossing the empty bowl into the sink, Elizaveta left the kitchen, and hurried to the living room to grab her phone.

_Antonio. Your friendlessness is needed._

_Friendliness** Autocorrect, I swear!_

His response was almost immediate.

_Sure it was. I'll be over in a minute chika! ;)_

{}}{{}

Antonio walked as casually as he could up to the blond, who was digging through his locker for some unknown object, which avoided his grasp. The Spaniard watched him for a little while before clearing his throat loudly. "Oh, hi Antonio."

"_Hola_! Lovi sent me to give you this." He held out a little yellow ticket for Matthew. "It's for the concert tomorrow night."

Matthew stared at it for a moment, before shaking his head. "I'm not going. Sorry."

"Why not?"

"I… I've got work that night, and no one will trade shifts with me."

"It would mean so much to him if you went. He doesn't often have friends that he'd want to invite to this sort of thing."

"Tell him I'm sorry, alright? I wanted to go, but I really can't."

Antonio's grin wilted slightly, and he turned to go. "Okay, I'll let him know. Perhaps we can get someone to film it?"

"Sure. That'd be awesome."

He watched as Matthew returned to his locker, this time with a deep frown etched across his features, before continuing on his way.

{}}{{}

"He _what_?" Elizaveta practically shrieked.

"No need to yell, and he said he's got work, so he won't be able to make it."

"But… Matt doesn't have a job. Why would he lie?"

"Lizzie, do you remember the conversation that Feli told us about? Just after Matthew and Ivan started going out?"

"Sort of, yeah."

"Well, he told them that when he found out _that_ about himself, he quit the hockey team in a panic, even though it wasn't a problem for him, he was just scared that it'd become one."

"So, you think that he knows that he likes Lovino, and doesn't want it to become awkward?"

"Exactly."

"Well that would make sense… but that means that we'll have to work harder, and faster if we want a confession before summer."

"Why the rush?"

"Other than the fact that an entire year to complete an operation looks really sad if we look back on it? Not much. I'd just hate to see it take that long."

Antonio threw her another one of his laughing grins, and ruffled her hair. "Well then, if you think you can do it, I have faith in you. You'll figure something out."

"I always do."

Just as the Spaniard turned to leave, he stopped, and whirled around, his grin fading into a strangely conniving smirk. "Maybe you won't have to figure out anything after all."

"How's that?"

"Hear me out Lizzie, this may sound crazy, but I think you'll just have to pick up a few things before tomorrow night, and get a security office key so we can keep an eye on the monitors."

"A little bit criminal, but I think that can be arranged. What does this have to do with getting Matt to the concert?"

The smirk widened, as if he'd been hoping that she'd ask just that. "Well Lizzie, that's just it. We won't have to get him there at all."

"Okay, you were right, this does sound crazy. He _just_ told you that he's not going."

"That's where you're wrong. He might've _said_ he won't go, but I guarantee you this. Matthew _will_ get himself to the concert. You could put money on it."

"Twenty." She offered, only half-jokingly.

"It's a bet."

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Hm... We're getting close to the 200 reviews mark... Anyone up for another one-shot prize for the 200th review? (Even though I'm still working on the 100th prize, but it's coming, I'm just a slow writer, I swear!) And no being a cheating arse this time, Joy!


	31. Flower Language

"Where're you going?" Alfred asked casually as Matthew hurried to grab his jacket.

"The school."

"I thought you weren't going to the concert."

"I wasn't…" He thought back to the day before, when Antonio had run up to him in the halls with the ticket, almost pleading on Lovino's behalf.

"_It would mean so much to him if you went."_

"But I changed my mind." Without another word, he ran out the door without even bothering to tie his shoes. The concert was scheduled to start at seven, and it was seven-forty-five now. But Lovino wouldn't be playing until the very end, which would be closer to eight. It still meant that he'd have to sprint the whole way, but he knew that he could make it.

He took the stairs down from the apartment almost seven at a time, stumbling a bit as he reached the bottom, but not falling. He passed a few people on the way, most looking in surprise at the panic with which the blond was running. 'Who cares if I've got a crush on him?' He thought fiercely. 'He doesn't know that, and he thinks we're friends. And friends support one another for things like this! I'd be a selfish ass if I didn't bother to show up!'

It was seven-forty-eight when he got to the theatre entrance. Plenty of time, he realized with a sigh of relief. Reaching for the door handle, his heart plummeted when he found it was locked. He swore in French under his breath, and started running around for another door.

In the security booth next to the coatroom, Elizaveta was swearing too. "Son of a bitch!" She yelped, not daring to look at Antonio's smug grin as she slapped twenty euros into his palm. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

Ignoring him, she turned back to the problem at hand. "Why wasn't the main door left unlocked?" She growled to Kiku.

"Security reasons, probably."

"Mei! Go to the next door, and let him in!"

"I'm on it!" The brunette dashed out of the room, her dress from her performance with the choir in the first bit of the concert flying out behind her.

"Kiku. Go to the theatre, and see if you can delay Lovino's performance, even for a few minutes. We just need enough time to get Mattie in."

"_Hai_." As he disappeared around the corner, the Hungarian returned to the screens, and swore again. The ticket table was still being manned. They'd have to get Matthew around somehow.

"Think Lizzie! C'mon!" She hissed. "He didn't take the ticket, so he doesn't have one. I don't have a key to any of the other doors except…" She jumped a bit as Feliciano tapped her on the shoulder. "What?"

"I think you could use something like this?" He held out a small key. "It's for the backstage changerooms. I sometimes help out with sets so the director lent one to me."

"You... are brilliant Feli!" She cheered, taking the offered key, and hurrying out the door to collect Mei and Matthew.

{}}{{}

"Lovino, you're on next." The stage manager whispered. Ivan and his older sister were nearly finished their cello-flute duet, and he would go on to finish up the concert, accompanied by Roderich, just as he had for every school concert for the past two -coming on to three- years.

"Yeah, yeah. Just let Edelstein know that he'd better not show off again." He muttered, tucking his violin under one arm in preparation to walk onto the stage, as now the last note was wavering in the still air of the auditorium. Applause rang loudly, and the siblings stepped forward for their bows, and turned to leave.

Lovino took a deep breath, shoving aside the usual twinge of nervousness that he always felt before stepping up, and nodded in thanks to Katyusha as she whispered 'break a leg'.

And then the lights went out.

There were a few yelps of surprise from he audience, followed by a noisy babble of confusion. The MC quickly stepped in, assuring everyone that everything was alright, and would be sorted out shortly. Thanks to the minor chaos, no one noticed Kiku slip out the backside of the lighting booth, wearing a faint smile of success.

{}}{{}

"Mei! Get Matt over here!" Elizaveta cried down the hallway. The younger pair was still running at full-speed towards where she stood in front of an open door, holding something behind her back.

"What are you doing Liz? The stage is further down."

"There's still people at the table. We have to sneak him through the back. You go find Kiku, and see how he's holding up, I'll get him in."

As the girl nodded, Matthew simply turned to Elizaveta in confusion. "Why are you guys helping me like this?" He couldn't remember actually having a conversation with the older teen, and suddenly she was doing everything in her power to get him into that auditorium.

"I'll explain everything someday. But right now, you're coming with me." She grabbed his wrist, and ran to the dark changing rooms she'd unlocked just moments earlier, making a mental note that she really owed Antonio one for that. Wouldn't that just add to his big head…

"That door over there leads to the far stage right." She explained quickly, pointing to a heavy-looking black door on the other side. "It's always unlocked. Now take these and go." She whipped out a bouquet of daisies and red camellias from behind her back, and forced them into his arms.

He was beyond the point of questioning why the people in this school acted as bizarrely as they did, so Matthew just thanked her quietly, and ran for the door.

Backstage was dimly lit, with lights stationed periodically across the back wall. But the stage at his side was bright once more, and Lovino was walking stiffly onto the black platform. Matthew grinned as he realized that he'd just made it. Cutting it close was a major understatement.

The Italian suddenly noticed him in the shadows, and their eyes locked for an instant, in which his dark ones widened in surprise, and Matthew's violet ones just brightened as he beamed at him, and gave him a thumbs up.

Without another sign of his surprise, Lovino turned back to face the audience, and lifted the violin to his shoulder, and nodded for Roderich to begin his part.

If all the times he'd heard Lovino practice were anything great, this performance blew them all away. The emotion he put into every stroke of the bow spoke volumes to the Canadian, standing just a few feet away from him, and he doubted anyone else in the audience got even half of the message.

Roderich got enough down in the orchestra pit to be surprised. Lovino's performances always sounded bitter, or angry. And he was a master of reading musicians. This time, the teen was playing on absolute elation; joy bubbling out of him like a Mento in Coke. It nearly threw him off of his count. Nearly.

When the piece ended, Matthew cheered louder than anyone else, clapping around the bouquet Elizaveta had forced upon him so unceremoniously. Lovino was supposed to exit stage left, the same way he'd entered, but after he'd bowed, (twice, as the audience stood up for an encore, which he had nothing for) he hurried to the right.

"What're you doing here you _idiota_?" He asked harshly, though the corners of his mouth were twitching upwards in a smirk.

"Hey, you invited me… I think." He held up his hands in surrender, before realizing that the flowers were still in one hand. "Uh… these are for you, I guess."

Lovino blinked several times before accepting them, the palest of blushes creeping across his tanned face. "_Grazie_. I guess I just didn't think you'd come. Feliciano said you were working."

"I was." He turned away, a bit embarrassed. "I ran all the way here after my shift ended." He lied softly. "I'm glad I made it in time though."

"I'm… I'm glad you did too."

Now it was Matthew's turn to look surprised. "Really?"

"Yes, really!" Lovino's eyes flashed, and suddenly he was back to his usual self. "I really wanted you to be here damnit!"

"I really wanted to be here."

"Well obviously, or you wouldn't have come."

"H-hey, Lovino?" He could suddenly feel his legs shaking, but you know what? To hell with it! He was feeling really brave after practically breaking in to see the Italian play. He could do this! "It's just, I wanted to tell you… I… I really like you, and I'd love it if you'd give me a chance to… go out?"

He was expecting surprise, maybe confusion. What he wouldn't have guessed in a hundred years was that Lovino's expression would be a mix of horror and anger. "What the hell are you playing at?" He growled.

"I'm sorry?"

"I was right when I first met you. You're just like all of the damn _girls_ at this school. Can't just leave anything alone."

"Lovino I-"

"_Vaffanculo_!" And without another word, he turned around, and stormed around the back to the other side of the stage, where everyone was waiting, leaving the blond standing like a stone in the dark.

{}}{{}

It wasn't until he got back to the apartment, that Lovino realized that he hadn't thrown away the flowers as he'd planned to do. In fact, he seemed to have a death grip on the end. He scowled, and opened the cupboard under the sink, and made to toss them in the garbage can that was sitting there. Only to realize that he couldn't.

Instead, he filled a glass vase with water, and set them carefully in it. "What the fuck was he thinking?" He muttered, sitting down in front of the vase, which now sat on the kitchen table.

"_Fratello_? Are you okay?" Feliciano gasped, bursting into the apartment. Kiku had had to explain what had happened, as Elizaveta was still in a state of shock, and he'd run straight over.

"Why the hell wouldn't I be?" He snapped.

'Right, I'm not supposed to know.' Feli thought. Out loud, all he said was, "You just disappeared after the concert. I was worried that something might've happened."

"Nothing happened. I'm just fine."

The older twin said nothing, but continued to stare hopelessly at the bouquet in front of him. "Who gave you those?"

"What does it matter?"

"Just that whoever gave these to you must care about you a whole lot."

"What're you talking about?" He snorted, standing up. "They're just flowers. I'm going to bed."

"But Lovi!"

"Don't call me that!"

"I'm sorry. It's just that… flowers used to mean different things sometimes. Daisies mean 'I'll never tell'. Whoever gave these to you knows why you always reject the girls, and is promising to keep it a secret." He was visibly struggling to remember everything Elizaveta had explained to him when she was picking out the flowers. While flower language had always been more popular in England, it was a sweet gesture, no matter where in the world you were.

"Daisies are also the national flower of Italy. This person was just an idiot who thought that appealing to my patriotic side would be sweet. You're looking into this way too much."

"What about the camellias?"

"What about them?"

"They mean 'you're a fire in my heart'. There has never been a better way to describe you _fratello_!"

Lovino paused on his way to his bedroom. Could Matthew really have put that much thought into a bunch of flowers? Then he shook the thought away. The damn Canadian was just another one of those people who didn't really give a rat's ass about him, and just wanted to prove that he could be dated. Besides, he'd already vowed to stay in the closet for the rest of his life. So what if he had to live alone? It was better than disappointing his family, even if they were mostly assholes and morons.

"It was probably just a coincidence! Just go to bed Feliciano. You must be tired if you keep on spewing that nonsense."

Disappointed that he hadn't been able to help the situation at all, he had no choice but to obey.

It was like all of their efforts had suddenly come to an inexplicable, grinding, ear piercing, earth-shattering halt, and showed no signs of ever picking up again.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

You didn't honestly think he'd confess and then everything would be all bunnies and sunshine from then on out, did you? Well I kind of like screwing with you guys, so you should totally know better by now... don't kill me.

I really love flower language. I just think it's such a cool idea, and I've always wanted to incorporate it into a story, and this opportunity presented itself! Yay!


	32. Square Zero

"Where did we go wrong?" Elizaveta murmured for the eighth time that night. It wouldn't likely be the last. And yet, she sounded just as surprised that it had gone wrong as she had the first time.

"I don't know." Gilbert groaned, not lifting his head up from the kitchen table.

"Everything was perfect. I thought they both really liked each other! Where in the hell did we screw up?"

"I don't know!"

Elizaveta, Kiku, Mei, Feliciano, Antonio, Francis, and Gilbert were all sprawled out in Elizaveta's apartment. The seven thick files they'd accumulated for this mission were sitting open on the coffee table, pages strewn about where someone had pulled it out in a feeble attempt at making sense of what they'd missed.

"Maybe we were too fast at pushing Matthew with the flowers." Antonio wondered aloud.

"_Non_. Too slow." Francis interjected. "Lovino got too used to the idea of being friends, and panicked at the idea of being anything more."

"We should've gotten Matthew in on this. Then we could've coached him on how to bring it up."

"It doesn't matter what we should've done."

"What're you saying Liz?"

The Hungarian swung up her head from where it had been hanging over the back of the chair to look at everyone. "Doesn't matter. We're back to square one. In fact, we're more like at square zero. Because now, instead of just not knowing each other, Lovino potentially hates Matthew, and it's all my fault! We've got nothing, nothing I tell you!" She shouted.

"Elizaveta. Please do not make me slap you again." Kiku murmured from the coffee table, where he was slouched over. "I don't have the energy to get over there at the moment."

"No Kiku, she's right." Mei said mournfully. "Instead of helping, we just fucked things up."

Everyone froze, and turned their heads over to the small brunette, who was absently playing with the long strand of hair hanging in front of her face, like nothing had happened; like she hadn't just swore.

"Fratello wouldn't come out of his room this morning." Feliciano announced. "Maybe he feels bad about what he did."

"I hope you're right Feli." Antonio sighed, patting the younger teen's auburn hair. "For the sake of our sanity, and Mei's once-pure mouth, I hope you're right."

{}}{{}

"Mattie! Come on, tell big brother what's wrong?"

"Go away Al!"

Frowning, the American pulled uselessly at the door handle again, as if hoping it'd be magically unlocked since the last time he'd tried. "You've been like this since last night! You were all gung-ho to see Lovino perform, and now this! What happened?"

"Nothing! Just screw off!"

"You know I can break down your door, right?"

"You'll just have to pay for it, now leave me alone!"

"You left your phone on the counter out here."

"So?"

"So I guess you wouldn't mind if I gave Mr. Grumpy-mob-boss a call and ask him what the hell is up with my baby bro?"

"Go ahead. He won't answer."

Alfred paused at the traces of bitterness in his voice, but just shrugged, and picked up the phone, flicking through his contacts before settling on _Lovino_. His finger brushed the centre button, and he was about to press it, when it rang loudly, making him drop it to the tiled floor with a loud clatter. The battery case slid open, letting the battery spin across the tiles until it rested near the fridge. The ringing stopped immediately.

Hoping his brother wouldn't kill him if he'd broken his phone, Alfred picked it up, pieced everything back together, and gave it a quick once-over, happy to see that it was still functional. "Good news bro! I have discovered that your phone is a tank!"

Somehow, the idea of calling Lovino had left his mind as easily as the battery left the phone, and he returned to bugging Matthew for a few more minutes, before giving up and going to play Call of Duty.

{}}{{}

Lovino sighed, and tossed the phone away, not caring where it landed. Of course Matthew would be ignoring him. He'd be pissed too after something like that. But really, what had he been expecting? He didn't date. It was as simple as that.

Still… He glanced over at the table, where the flowers were sitting, still in full bloom. They were almost mocking him with how damn pretty they were. Just like Matthew's eyes had been the previous night, so bright and hopeful, and then just as beautiful when he was utterly crushed.

Scowling, Lovino got to his feet, and left the kitchen, towards the front door. He needed to go somewhere where he could stop thinking about this whole damn thing.

"Where are you going Fratello?"

"Out." He snapped. And for once, Feliciano didn't press any further. He just told him to take an umbrella with him in case it started raining, which he didn't. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky.

Most of the other students were already leaving the campus for summer holidays. The concert had marked the end for everyone, and parents were beginning to arrive to whisk their kids away to overseas vacation homes and whatnot.

Lovino and Feliciano's grandfather had sent them tickets for a flight at the end of the next week to take them home to Italy, but until then, they were just killing time.

"Hey Lovino?"

He looked up in surprise to see Elizaveta standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at him. She appeared to be exhausted, but her eyes were still glinting in that way he'd always hated. The way that told him that she was up to something.

"What do you want?"

"I'm here to apologize."

"What the hell did you do this time?" Lovino growled. Apologizing in advance was always one of Feliciano's tricks.

"It's about Matthew…"

"Why do you think I give a shit about him?"

"Just listen to me."

The Italian paused, glaring at her before sighing, and nodding. Elizaveta grinned, and grabbed him by the wrist, leading him further away from the building, and they started walking aimlessly as she talked.

"Well, I know that you're well aware of what the YFA does…"

"Did. You perverts got disbanded."

The brunette winced at that, but pressed on. "Well, there's kind of a long story about that. But more importantly, for the past few months, you… promise not to be mad, but you and Matt… were kind of the project."

"…Wait you _what_?"

"Okay, okay, calm down."

"No way! You tell me what the fuck you were thinking! You stuck your nose into other people's business, and now look what happened!"

She raised an eyebrow, and fought back the sly smirk that desperately wanted to show itself. "What happened?"

"You pushed him -the one person I didn't really mind hanging around with- you pushed him into doing something stupid like saying he loves me, and you screwed everything up!"

"But I'm not the one who pushed him away so forcefully. You did that yourself."

"No, I gave the kid a fucking reality check. Which he wouldn't need if you could just mind your own damn business!"

"Lovino Vargas, you listen to me right now, and listen close!" Elizaveta grabbed him by the fabric of his jacket, and shook him hard. "It might come as a surprise to you, but I barely had a hand in your relationship! I got your brother to introduce you two! I planted the mistletoe! And I got Matt to the concert with the flowers! That's it! Now wouldn't that mean that everything else was you two doing the work? That you have to like him, even just a bit?"

She could see him bristling uncomfortably, but it was better he feel awkward than angry. "Wh-what do you know?"

"I know that you act differently around him. You're even nicer to him than you are to your own brother. I've seen you blush bright red just by bumping his shoulder, or watching him laugh. Please Lovino…"

"Would you just leave me alone already? You're a pain in the ass, you and all of your little cronies!"

"Just please promise me you'll stop being mad at Matthew for something that isn't even his fault?"

Lovino turned away, as if to return to the apartments, but shook his head slightly. "I wasn't really ever mad with him." He murmured quietly before heading off.

The smirk was now a full grin as Elizaveta called after him. "They're leaving for their camp in Nova Scotia tomorrow morning, so make it fast! And if you miss him, it's the big blue and white cabin on Bras D'or Lake with the bay windows!"

He lifted his hand, halfway to giving her a grateful wave, but stopped himself, and just stuffed the hand into his jeans pocket, and hurried along, not even questioning how she knew where his camp was. He, like many, had just accepted how creepy she could be.

Still grinning, Elizaveta turned back to face the school, found the principal's office window, and stuck up her middle finger at it. "I hope you were watching that, asshole." She muttered. "Now to tell the others the good news! The operation is still in effect!"

{}}{{}

"I got it!" Alfred shouted as someone knocked loudly on the door. Matthew mumbled something, but it went unheard through his pillow and door.

He swung open the door, and his smile disappeared when he saw who it was. "Hey Vargas."

"Hi. Can I talk to Mateo?"

"Sorry. I don't think he's up to talking." The American snapped. "Maybe if you tell me what happened to turn my little brother into a miserable wreck the day before summer vacation, I can see if he's willing to see you."

Lovino froze, hesitant to explain anything to Alfred. "I… said some things last night that I regret… and I need to apologize before you leave."

"Oh I agree that you need to apologize, but here's the thing." He leaned forward as if relaying some deep dark secret. "Mattie's just a bit too forgiving, if you ask me. He'd tell you it's okay before you even open your mouth. But me? I don't trust you as far as I can throw you."

"Well that's good for me. You could chuck anyone a good mile or so. You must trust me an awful lot."

"Funny! But seriously, get lost. I won't have you corrupting my little brother anymore."

He nearly caught the door as Alfred started to close it, but a sudden feeling of absolute weakness, and fear for his fingers made him pull back, and let the American slam the door in his face.

So that was it. He couldn't apologize if he couldn't get in, and he couldn't get in as long as Alfred continued being the stubborn over-protective brother that he was.

With an irritated huff, Lovino jammed his hands back into the pockets of his sweater, and started to head back to his apartment.

"So that's it _Fratello_? You're just going to let it go that easily?"

He didn't bother turning around to face Feliciano, who was standing on the stairs to the lower level. "So you were in on this crap too?"

"Elizaveta asked for my help, and when I saw how happy you were, I thought you might not mind if it worked out. So… I guess it's just not that important to you? If you're just going to walk away like that."

"I'm not going to break into their apartment. I'll just catch him while they're packing up the car tomorrow."

"So are you going to go out with him?" The younger twin just sounded way too happy at the prospect.

"I doubt it. But I don't see a point in letting that damned Héderváry screw up what we had before."

"It's mamma you're worried about, isn't it? That she won't accept you?"

When did Feli start actually noticing the things that went on around him? It would've freaked Lovino out if it weren't for the fact that he was focussing on trying to come up with a good response. But Feliciano beat him to it.

"Cause, you know, I bet if he made you really happy, she'd be okay with it. After all, the only opinion that matters in your life is your own, and the ones of people that really care about your happiness."

"Where'd you get that line? It's really cheesy."

"I made it up myself!" He declared, sounding very proud of himself.

"Of course you did. Anyway, I'll stop by tomorrow morning, and apologize. Okay?"

"Okay!"

{}}{{}

"Mateo, I had just gotten off stage, and you kind of freaked me out… no. Mateo, you know how I get angry when I'm surprised…? Hell no." Lovino glared at the bathroom mirror, which glared right back at him, trying countless times to figure out what he was going to say the next morning. But nothing would come out of his mouth that didn't sound uncaring, or completely out of his own character. There was no way he could ever convince Matthew that he'd liked him for a long time without sounding so unlike himself.

Finally, he just caved and figured he'd wing it. He left the bathroom, and walked slowly down the hallway to his bedroom, which was bare of all of his belongings, except for the comforter on his bed. The rest were packed in boxes, which sat in the living room, waiting to be moved back to their summer home in Italy.

For once, he was happy that their parents would be working overseas all summer. It meant that he and Feliciano would be spending their summer with their _nonno_, away from their judgemental mother, and having to keep secrets all the time. If everything went according to Héderváry's ridiculous mission, he'd need all the support from his _nonno_ and brother that he could get.

"_Fratello_? How come you're going to bed this early? We don't leave until noon, so you don't have to be up early or anything."

He turned to stare blankly at Feliciano, who seemed to slowly understand. "Good night Feli."

"Good night!"

Even though he'd told himself a dozen times that he could do this, and wasn't going to pull out like the last time, Lovino still found himself unable to get to sleep as quickly as usual. He was filled with the same fluttering sensation as whenever he performed.

{}}{{}

Lovino woke up to sunlight streaming through the window, and sat up in an instant. He didn't need a clock to realize that he'd slept in. "Shit!" He didn't even bother to change out of his pyjamas, and just sprinted across the living room to the front door. He heaved it open, and ran to the railing…

…Just in time to catch a glimpse of Matthew and Alfred in the back seat of a car that was already on the move towards the front gate.

"What is it _Fratello_?" Feliciano yawned, rubbing one eye sleepily as he padded over to stand beside Lovino. "Did you talk to Mateo?"

"I was too late." He murmured.

"Aww don't worry! You'll have plenty more chances to talk to him after the break! He'll listen."

Lovino didn't look too convinced at the statement. "It'll be too late by then."

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!


	33. Advice From a Cat

"Fratello! Nonno's going into town to sell some of his paintings! Do you wanna come along?"

"No. Go ahead."

Feliciano frowned at his twin, who'd been sitting on the couch, channel surfing all morning. Every once in awhile he'd stop at something, watch it for a few minutes, and then continue on. "Well, if you're not coming, Nonno said you should do some work or something. The patio still needs to be swept before we can start setting up the tables."

Without a word, Lovino turned off the TV, and got to his feet. Feliciano was already out by the front door, putting on his shoes, and their grandfather was waiting in the car.

He watched them pull out of the driveway, and head in towards town before making his way over to the backyard, where the patio furniture still sat covered where the three of them had taken it out of the shed earlier that week. The push broom was leaning against the smooth wall, waiting to be used.

Lovino stood there for a moment, staring at it, as if considering whether he should actually work, or just go back to the TV and sulk some more. Finally, his conscience won, and he grasped the worn handle, and started to work.

He remembered how cleaning off the patio at the beginning of the summer had always been the chore that he and Feliciano shared as kids. He himself hated it, and always found a way to slack off and take a nap while letting his twin do all the work. Even now, he could feel the urge to be lazy creeping up on him again. But this time he actually had to do it. There was no little brother to hand the task over to right now.

The warm afternoon air was still, and silent, giving him a strong desire to speak in order to break the silence as he swept. "This is all that damned Héderváry's fault. She just can't leave anything alone, just has to shove her nose in, and twist things to work in her favour."

A small pile of dirt began to form in the middle of the patio, and he worked in a circle around it, suddenly determined to make every speck of dirt get into the pile.

"It's not like we couldn't have just stayed friends either, but _no_, that just wasn't good enough. Her and those other damned perverts of hers. Even Kiku. _Dio_, but he's a traitor to his own gender. How can any straight guy honestly get any enjoyment out of what they do? It's fucking creepy that's what it is!"

A rustle in the gardens caught his eye, and he turned to see a small brown cat walk into the yard. It was probably one of the strays that Feliciano fed all the time. "The idiot's not here, so screw off!" He yelled at it. But it didn't run, or even pause at his shout. Instead, it continued to approach until it stood directly in front of him, and batted lazily at the broom.

"Hey." He muttered, leaning against the top of the broom to peer down at it. "What gives you stupid cat? You're not getting fed here."

The only response was a small 'mew', and the cat crouched, tail swishing in preparation to leap on the broom.

"You don't listen, do you?" It pounced at the bristles, and attempted to get its teeth around the base. "You're just like the moron who feeds you. And another moron I know."

The cat seemed to become quickly bored with the broom, and backed off a few paces to have a spontaneous bath, as cats often do.

"Why don't you just screw off and kill a rat or something?" Lovino growled, nudging it with the broom in hopes that it would run off. But instead, it whirled around and resumed its attack.

Sweeping would now be entirely pointless, so he just stood, and watched the cat play with a faint expression of amusement. And as the sounds it was making blended in with the other background noises, his need to speak came back.

"So I'll bet you've got a nice girl cat to go back to, don't you? You've got it easy then. I doubt cats have to worry about pleasing their parents."

Finally, the cat acknowledged Lovino's voice, and stared owlishly up at him as he continued.

"What do you think I should do about Mateo?" He asked, now more to himself than actually to the cat. "He's an idiot, and doesn't know when is a good time to shut up, and when he should be talking, he just clams up and practically disappears." He let out a breathy sigh, which made the curl in his hair flutter weakly, and returned to leaning on the broom. "But at the same time I can't get the idiot out of my head.

"I think Héderváry might've been right. God help us all, the world must be ending, but I think she was right. I kind of do care about him. I might even…"

He thought back to the day before they'd left; what Elizaveta had told him. "The big blue and white cabin on Bras D'or Lake… That's Nova Scotia."

Determination building, Lovino bent down to give the cat a quick stroke along its spine before abandoning the broom back against the wall, and running into the house, deciding to leave something out for the stray before he left.

Once in his room, he wasted no time in finding the nearest bag he could, and tossing in a change of clothes, his phone, and wallet, before hurrying back.

The cat almost looked smug as Lovino placed a large plate of cold chicken in front of it, as if that had been its plan the entire time. It didn't even flinch as the teen then locked the patio door, and sprinted around to the front.

'The airport's not too far. I can get there on foot, easy.' He thought as he ran out the front gate, and started down the dirt road. Every step was screaming at him, demanding to know what the hell he was thinking, but he ignored it, and just pressed on faster.

At least, until he noticed the car approaching him from behind. He recognized it, and stopped instantly with a groan. "What do you want?" He asked his grandfather, who rolled down the window with one eyebrow raised.

"Just wondering if the task I left you with was so difficult that it sent you running."

"Ve… Lovi! Are you going to go see Mateo?" Feliciano asked from the passenger side.

"No, I just thought I'd go for a little jog towards the airport for no real reason, it's just so _pretty_ this time of year… where do you _think_ I'm going?"

The older man's eyebrows rose even higher at that. "That Canadian boy? Why would you go visiting him so suddenly?" He asked, thought at the same time, he looked like he already knew the answer.

Lovino shut his mouth with a click, and repressed the blush as best as he could. "I have to go apologize to him for something…"

His irritation only grew at the knowing smirk that was creeping along his grandfather's face. "Go along then Lovino. And don't come back until you've got news that'll give your mother a heart attack. I don't think anything less would be worth the flight."

"It'll be worth it alright, I can promise you that."

"That's my boy. Do you want a lift?"

"No thanks. I have to do all of this on my own."

"Suit yourself. I'll see you in a few days?"

"I won't be long. Promise."

"Okay Lovi!" Feliciano called brightly. "Tell Mateo I say hi! And that I can't wait to be an uncle!"

Laughing at the expression of confusion, and absolute disbelief that suddenly crossed Lovino's face, the other two turned around, and drove on back to their home.

"I'm not a fucking seahorse!" He screamed at last, even though they were long gone. With an angry huff, he turned back to his destination, and took off at a sprint. He didn't even know if he could get a flight there soon enough, but trying was far better to spending the rest of his summer channel-surfing, and wishing he'd done what he was doing.

{}}{{}

"I need a flight to Nova Scotia, Canada!" Lovino gasped at the tall man behind the counter. "The first one you can get!"

"I-I'll see what I can do."

There was a still moment as the man searched the computer for the flight in question, before he smiled in that 'I'm being helpful because it's my job, if it were up to me, you'd be on your own' kind of way. "We've got one leaving for Sydney in two hours. There are a few seats left if-"

"I'll take it." He interrupted quickly.

"Alright. Any luggage to check?"

"Just a carry-on."

In a few minutes, he'd paid, taken the ticket, and dashed down to the gate to wait for the flight.

He couldn't help but feel like he'd just put that damn Beilschmidt to shame with how awesome he'd just been.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

You probably noticed the lack of Italian in this chapter. This would be because they are in Italy, so we should all assume they are speaking Italian, and there's no one around who doesn't understand the language, so there's no way I'm Italicizing every single bit of dialogue.


	34. Kiss Him Dammit!

"Matthew! Alfred says we should have burgers for supper, are you okay with that?"

He didn't even move from his spot at the sound of his mother calling up the stairs. Normally, he'd be so happy to hear her actually asking his opinion of something when he wasn't even in the room, but right then, he didn't really care.

"That's fine!" He shouted back, wondering if she'd even heard him.

Apparently she had. "Okay! I'll go let your father know."

With yet another heavy sigh, Matthew went back to staring out the window in his bedroom. It was his favourite spot in the whole house, a large bay window with a window seat that opened up; the perfect place to read or draw, and store his books, and it looked out over Bras D'or Lake. Normally, it was his place of solitude. His quiet escape. The lake provided him with endless new sketches, and was just a nice, quiet place to think.

But right now, all he could see was Lovino, the day they'd left. He'd just stood outside his apartment, and watched as they drove away. Matthew had been unable to see his face, but he'd probably been glaring at them. He'd long since stopped berating himself for being stupid the night of the concert. It wouldn't change a thing.

He'd toyed with the thought that maybe Lovino had just panicked at the sudden confession, but if that were the case, then he would've heard from him in the days after. But it seemed apparent that the Italian just wanted to cut him from his life, just like that. All because Matthew just had to go and ruin a perfectly good friendship with his fluttering emotions.

As if to mirror his mood, the skies had been nearly black with thick clouds all day, which threatened to pour rain down on them at any moment. Some great weather for the first day of their vacation.

"Hey Mattie? I'm heading down to Mike's place before supper, and play a bit of football, you wanna come?"

"No thanks."

Alfred frowned at the immediate reply. "Come on bro, the guy was a dick. So stop sulking about him, and come have some fun!"

"I'm fine Al, really. I'm just not really sporty, okay? You go have fun. I'll text you when the burgers are done."

"If you're sure… okay then!" He grinned. "You're the best! About the burger thing, not your judgement in guys. That blows."

"I get it already." Matthew replied testily.

"Okay, I'm gone."

Once Alfred had left his room, Matthew turned back to his view, this time also keeping an eye on the ground, watching as his brother raced out the back door, with his shoes unlaced, and his jacket only halfway on.

Just as he mutely wondered if Al would make it to Mike's house before it rained, the clouds finally caved in, and let it rain. And it really did rain. Suddenly he could barely see three feet from the house.

He heard the front door open, and close as his father went outside to pull the awning out over the barbeque, but kept his focus on the backyard. Or rather, lack of focus. He was at the point where he wasn't really seeing anything; just going through the motions of blinking, and staring.

At least, that was until something beyond bizarre caught his eye. He honestly wouldn't have believed it if it weren't straight in his line of sight. Lovino Vargas was climbing the hill from the beach into the backyard, in the pouring rain, looking very tired, and very lost.

Matthew blinked once, twice, and rubbed his eyes, before acknowledging that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, and then nearly tumbled off of the window seat in his haste to get downstairs. The thought of why Lovino was even there barely crossed his mind as he swung open the door, and sprinted out onto the back deck.

"Lovino!" He called, deciding it was a smart idea to launch himself over the railing of the deck to save himself the time of running down the stairs. This earned him a faceful of wet grass and earth, and a sudden jolt of pain running up his leg, which would probably bruise the next day.

"Oh shit! Are you okay?"

The only response was a low groan, and Lovino hurried forward, and grabbed the blond's shoulders.

"H-hey Lovino… What're you doing here? I thought you were mad."

"Well…I was, but that's besides the point. Look, I came out here to apologize. I was kind of a dick."

Funny, Alfred had just said that same thing only a few minutes earlier.

"And it just took me awhile to realize that I was so worried about what people like my parents and Feliciano's friends would think that I just didn't realize that only one person's opinion about my love life really matters to me… and that's yours." He said, the cheesy words Feliciano had told him the day before they'd left spilling from his mouth with practiced ease.

Matthew blinked several times in surprise, wayward strands of gold partially blocking his eyes from view. "P-pardon?"

"Don't make me repeat myself. Right now you're special to me, and I never want to see you get hurt again. That's all I know."

The pounding rain was suddenly deafening in the silence. Lovino's hazel eyes were locked with Matthew's amethyst ones, just as they had been the night of the concert. There was none of the anger behind them anymore, just pleading, which Matthew couldn't help but find strange to see in Lovino.

With a sudden grin, he shakily got to his feet, and held out a hand for the Italian to do the same. "I don't know about you, but I'm soaked. Let's go in and get some towels, and then have something to eat, okay?"

Now it was Lovino's turn to look surprised, though it didn't last long. He took the offered hand, and followed Matthew to the door, which was still slightly ajar from his previous rush.

"So how'd you get here anyway?" Matthew asked, digging through an unpacked box in the halls in hopes that it held towels. "I doubt you swam here from Italy, though you certainly are wet enough to pass for it."

"No, I caught the first empty seat to Sydney I could get, and then rented a speed boat to get here, and don't even think of trying to pay me back, it wasn't that much." He replied smoothly, as if it were really no big deal to jump on a cross-Atlantic flight on such short notice.

"Sounds like quite the adventure. There's nothing in this one. Hang on a sec, I'll go check downstairs."

He hurried down into what was probably a basement in search of towels, while Lovino continued to stand dripping in the doorway. As soon as the Canadian was out of sight, a tall blonde woman appeared from on top of the stairwell. "Are you Lovino?"

"Yes?" He thought somewhere in the back of his mind that this must be Matthew and Alfred's mother.

She descended the steps, observing him coolly with sky blue eyes, a near mirror image to Alfred's. "Lucille Williams. I had a sneaking suspicion you'd be showing up here."

_How?_ Lovino was used to his Grandfather knowing practically his every action, but he'd assumed that had to do with his questionable business connections. Why was it that this woman knew too? Was it some sort of adult sixth sense?

Suddenly, she was standing very close to him so that she could speak in hushed tones, as if afraid someone would hear. "You know, a lot of girls, and some guys, I'm sure, would agree that there's nothing quite as romantic as a kiss in the rain." She glanced up towards the door to the yard, where they'd been just a few moments earlier. "I'd say you blew that one."

As Matthew reappeared, holding two large towels, and sporting a wide smile that reached well past his bright violet eyes, Lovino couldn't help but agree entirely.

"Oh, hey mom. This is Lovino Vargas. I think I've told you about him before, he's from school."

"Oh is that who you are?" She cried in feigned surprise, as if she hadn't just been speaking to him like she knew everything about him. "No wonder you seemed so familiar! I should've recognized you from all the stories he's told me about you!"

"He… talks about me?"

"All the time! You know... when he actually bothers to call his poor mother." With a teasing grin, she hooked an arm around both boys' shoulders, and led them upstairs. "Come on, the burgers should be done soon."

"Should I call Alfred?" Matthew asked, freeing the arm that held the towels so he could pass one to Lovino.

"Forget about your brother for a minute. He'll eat at Mike's house, and he can have the leftover patties for lunch tomorrow."

It was at that moment that Lovino decided that he liked their mother.

{}}{{}

By the time the rain stopped, they'd finished dinner, and Lucille had set up a guest bed for Lovino, despite his insistence that he could easily get a hotel. "Never deny a French woman the opportunity to play hostess." She'd shot right back at his refusal.

So there he sat on the edge of the spare bed, wearing pyjama bottoms and a faded X-Men t-shirt, both raided from the drawers in Alfred's room, and tossing a DVD remote between his hands while waiting for Matthew's return with the popcorn. The TV in front of him was silently playing ads until the main menu for _The Reaping_ appeared on the screen.

From downstairs, the microwave beeped shrilly, and in a few moments, Matthew appeared with a large red plastic bowl in his hands.

"No butter?"

"None." He confirmed.

"Well done." As Lovino reached for a handful, Matthew pulled it out of reach.

"What's the magic word?" He teased.

"_Ti amo_."

Matthew turned bright red, and faltered long enough for Lovino to grab the bowl from him, and hit play on the remote.

"R-really?"

"Yes really. Now watch the damn movie, and don't even think about getting cuddly."

He couldn't see the blond's face, but he knew that he was pouting, and so refused to even glance his way. "You can't just say something like that, and leave it." Matthew mumbled.

"Can too."

When he didn't reply right away, Lovino dared a glance and instantly regretted it. He wasn't pouting. He was wearing that same distant and kind of depressed expression that he'd had after his break-up with Braginski.

So with all of the harsh words fleeing his mind, he just did the one thing that he'd wanted to do since December. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Matthew's slightly parted ones. The kiss was just as sweet and soft as he'd imagined, and definitely left his mouth demanding another. As soon as they broke apart, lungs feeling about to burst, he dove in for a second.

Somehow his hands found Matthew's, with his eyes closed, and he held them tightly until they parted for breath again.

"Y'know…" Matthew breathed softly, "for someone who makes it his way of life to never go out with anyone… you're a really good kisser."

"And _you_…" He replied with a hint of a growl in his voice, "are almost as good at ruining a moment as your brother."

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

With a faintly manic grin, Lovino began running his hands along the Canadian's sides, sending him into fits of giggles.

"N-no f-f-f-f-fair! You know I'm t-t-ticklish!" He gasped between bouts of laughter.

"Why yes, yes I do." He answered very matter-of-factly with a grin slipping into place.

"S-stop it! I c-c-can't bre-e-e-eathe!"

"What's the word?"

"P-p-please!"

"Close… but I think it was something a bit more…" Lovino suddenly went still, and the smile left his face. "Stay here."

"What's wrong?"

Without answering, he stood, and walked over to the window, which he flung open, and popped out the screen. "Honda! Get in here!"

There was a moment's pause, before a pair of jean-clad legs appeared from above. "How did you know it was me?"

"Because you're the only one of Héderváry's lackeys who can climb a three-story building, and take pictures from the roof. Hand over the camera, and don't even try to deny it, I heard the clicking."

"I'm afraid that I cannot do that. Elizaveta would be very displeased."

"Well I'm going to be 'very displeased' if you don't hand it over."

"I am not afraid of you or your grandfather's mafia. But Elizaveta…" He paused, probably to shudder. "She is a terrifying woman when angry."

"Lovino, it's alright. It's not like Kiku would put pictures up on some creepy site or anything."

"No, but from what Feliciano's told me, they're gonna end up as references to one of his freaky comics."

Kiku's legs suddenly disappeared, and then his face appeared in the window. "Congratulations you two, but now that my work here is done, I have to be heading back to the airport to go home. I may visit over Christmas break next year, but until then, farewell."

As his footsteps pounded over their heads before disappearing, they lapsed into a silence, until Matthew decided to speak. "Oh yeah, I forgot he graduated this year."

Lovino stared at him incredulously. "_That's _what you took out of that conversation?"

"Well you two seemed to have everything else covered, so I figured I'd tie up that last loose end… what?"

Lovino just shook his head slowly.

"But I do wonder how he knew you were coming over…"

"Héderváry probably sniffed out my intentions from home, and sent Kiku."

"I guess it's not really that important now, though is it?"

With another disappointed shake of his head, the Italian sat back down on the edge of the bed, and stared at the TV. The movie was already ten minutes in. "Who the hell are all these people?"

"I… do not have a clue. Never seen this one."

"You expect me to believe that your pansy-ass brother watches this alone?"

"No, he just usually invites his friends over, or forces Arthur. He hasn't asked me to watch a movie with him since the time I locked him out of the house all night after watching _Dawn of the Dead_."

"Oh do tell."

"There's not much else to tell except that while he was yelling up at me that when the zombies got him I was the first person he'd bite, I played some creepy sound effects through the open window in the kitchen, and then went to bed."

Lovino smirked, and wrapped his arm around the blond's shoulders. "You are so cruel to your brother, and I love that about you."

Matthew turned red again, but smiled and rested his head against the other. "_Je t'aime aussi._"

At the warm syllables rolled off of Matthew's tongue, Lovino turned to kiss him again, wanting to drink in everything he'd missed.

To hell with it. The movie probably sucked anyway.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

At long last, here it is! The big one. Just two chappies left now.


	35. Mother's Blessing

At 2:30 in the morning, Gilbert was awoken by something heavy landing on his gut, and a high-pitched squeal. At first, his sleep-deprived mind decided that someone had thrown a pig on him, but then it started speaking.

"Gilbert! Gilbert! Gil! Bert! Gil! Bert! Get up!"

He sat up with a start, smacking his head against Elizaveta's, and effectively knocking them both backwards. But she was only dazed for a moment before bouncing right back, grinning like the maniac she was. "Gilbert! Look at what Kiku gave me right before he left for Japan!"

Rubbing his forehead, Gilbert squinted into the darkness to see Elizaveta's camera –the one he'd gone all the way to Hungary for after Christmas break– being shoved unceremoniously in his face. "What's so special about it?" It looked just as battered as ever to him.

Instead of answering, she scooted up to the pillows, nudging Gilbert until he moved over so she could get under the covers, holding out the camera on replay. She slid through about a dozen pictures of Matthew and Lovino kissing in the guest room at the camp. "Aren't they just perfect?" She cooed.

"Sure Lizzie, you did good. For a creepy stalker that is."

"Thanks!" Elizaveta brimmed with pride while she continued going through them all over again. Completely ignoring his other comment.

"And Lizzie?"

"Hm?"

"I'm not wearing any pants."

Turning and odd shade of purple and red, the brunette dove out of the bed, and pressed up against the nearest wall, still clutching the camera tightly in her grasp. "Tell me these things beforehand, would you?"

Gilbert just laughed, and flipped off the covers, revealing his black and white shorts. "You're more innocent than you act y'know?" He muttered with a grin at her visible sigh of relief.

"Sh-shut up! You're not allowed to ruin this special moment for me! Weren't you paying attention? They're together!"

"And I'm glad you're so happy about it! But I think I've got something you'll like even better." He rolled off of his bed, and walked over to his desk, which was as strangely clean as the rest of his room.

He returned with a thin envelope in his hand, which he passed to the brunette, who tore through it with curious eagerness. "Dear Mr. Beilschmidt," she read aloud. "Your application for a new extra-curricular club has been thoroughly examined, and we have decided…" She choked on the words, her eyes suddenly swimming. "We have decided that the Yaoi Fans' Alliance is to be accepted, and run under the care of Elizaveta Héderváry in the upcoming year."

She looked up at Gilbert, astounded. "How did you get this accepted?"

"I had old man Fritz pull a few strings, and went through the VP instead of the ass hat. No big deal, really, you guys just have to be more careful this year. No full-out stalking, got it? Keep it PG."

Beaming, Elizaveta threw her arms around Gilbert's neck, and kissed him. "Thank you so much!"

"If that's your reaction, I'll make you a new club anytime. Besides, without some niners to order around, where would you be?"

Smile still in place, she grabbed his pale cheeks and pulled them tight. "Oh I just love the sweet little nothings that come out of that mouth of yours."

"'itto!" He shouted back, and then winced as she let go with a snap. "You crazy bitch."

"Pervert."

"Like you're one to talk."

"Moron."

"Cross-dresser."

"Dick head."

"I'm so glad we can get along as well as we do."

Her retort was cut off by the sudden arrival of Ludwig from the hallway. "_Vati _says that if you two don't keep it down, he's throwing you _both _out." He mumbled groggily. "And I might beat him to it."

"Sorry Luddy." Gilbert said, not really sounding very sorry at all. "Hate to disturb your beauty sleep, _Gott_ knows you need it."

The younger teen started looking even more annoyed, but his brother didn't seem to clue in, and continued his rambling. "Though, seeing as you're related to this hunk of awesome, there's no way you can be all that bad, you just got more genes from the wrong side of the family, that's all. So don't feel too bad about yourself Luddy, maybe you just haven't blossomed yet." He emphasized the idea of Ludwig 'blossoming' by making his hands look like an opening flower.

"Either shut up, or get lost." Ludwig snapped back, turning on his heel, and stalking back into the dark hallway.

"Why is my little _bruder _always so mad when we wake him up in the middle of the night?" Gilbert pondered aloud, letting the volume of his voice rise a little bit. "I mean, he's such an early riser, you'd think that he'd enjoy getting an extra hour or three of the day for him to do macho things."

"What kind of macho things?" Elizaveta asked, speaking louder as well.

"Oh you know, going for twenty-mile jogs, chopping firewood when there hasn't been a wood-burning stove in a hundred-mile radius for years, fun stuff like that!"

Just as Ludwig's heavy footsteps began shaking the floor from the hallway again, Elizaveta kissed Gilbert on the cheek once more, and ducked out the window she'd come from, leaving him to face his brother's rage alone.

{}}{{}

Lovino stared absentmindedly out the window of the kitchen, where he and Matthew were sitting with coffee. Alfred had come home the night before, saw the Italian, and raised an eyebrow in confusion, but left it alone. Even when he'd past them on his way downstairs to play yet more video games, he'd nodded a greeting, and hadn't shown any sign of his previous bitterness.

"I'll have to head back today."

"So soon?"

He started at the blond's soft voice, not realizing that he'd spoken aloud. "Yeah. My flight leaves at four."

Matthew glanced over at the clock, which read eleven-thirty. "It's a three hour drive to Sydney from here, so you'll have to go soon. My mom can take you."

"That'd be great, thanks… Mateo?"

"Yeah?"

"Is… would it be alright if I called you sometime over the break?"

The dark blush that was splashed across his face was nearly put to shame by the dark shade that crept up Matthew's cheeks at the request. But still, he smiled brightly, and nodded. "Of course. I'd really like that."

When the Canadian disappeared in search of his mom, Lovino couldn't help the triumphant grin that lit up his face.

He didn't even stop when Alfred cleared his throat behind him. "Yeah?"

"I just thought I'd let you know that I've got my eye on you." He said threateningly.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"I mean it! You break Mattie's heart; there'll be hell to pay. I could twist you into a pretzel for less than an argument."

As much as Lovino would love to be able to say that he wasn't intimidated by Alfred's threat, he was very much aware of how much bigger the American was compared to himself, an had to suppress a shudder at how angry he looked. But outwardly, he was as collected as ever. "Right. You don't have to worry about a thing."

"I'd better not."

Matthew returned a moment later, followed by his mother, and carrying the Italian's backpack. "We should head out now, just in case traffic is bad." He explained. "Oh hey Al. Didn't see you there. Are you coming too?"

Lovino was half expecting him to want to tag along in order to keep an eye on the two, but he just grinned, and ruffled his brother's hair affectionately. "Nah, I got a date. Natalya and Will are getting up early to Skype."

"Okay. See you in a few hours then."

"Yep! Make sure he doesn't miss his flight." To his brother, it sounded like Alfred just didn't want them to go all that way for nothing, but Lovino knew that he just wanted to make sure they wouldn't see each other for the next two months, and preferably not for the rest of the year either.

{}}{{}

Mrs. Williams' car looked meek next to the big black truck that Alfred had gotten for his last birthday, but it was still a dependable thing, and would get them to the airport on time. Matthew looked about to get into the passenger side, but his mother quickly set her purse down on the seat. "Would you mind sitting in the back? I just don't want it flying everywhere."

"Okay…" Slightly puzzled, he slammed the door shut, and went to the side door, sliding in beside Lovino in the backseat.

"So did you know?" The Italian asked suddenly, just after they'd pulled out of the driveway.

"Did I know what?"

"Did you know about what Héderváry was up to?"

"What was she…?" But then he thought about it. At the very beginning of the year, she'd greeted him in the halls, when she'd never done that before. The very same day, Mei had asked to switch seats, and told him to sit next to Lovino, even though that wasn't her spot.

From that moment on, Elizaveta had been everywhere. The Halloween dance, at the bar after his break-up with Ivan, Valentine's Day… the day of the concert, she'd done everything in her power to make sure he saw Lovino perform… it all made sense.

His hand met his forehead with a snap. "I do _now_! God! How did I not see that?"

Still driving, his mother seemed to be pretending not to be interested in the conversation going on behind her, but her eyes continued to flick up to the rear-view mirror, and find their faces.

"Well now I must look like a total idiot! When did you figure it out?"

"She told me all about it the day before you and Alfred left. Took all the blame for the night of the concert, and kind of forced me to try and apologize. I would've anyway, but… I probably wouldn't have come all this way if she hadn't. I was still pretty pissed, after all."

"Oh so _you_ were pissed? How do you think _I_ was handling the whole thing?"

"Well I tried to call and you ignored it, so I can imagine it wasn't all roses and sunshine."

"Yeah I- wait, you called?"

"_Sí_, I tried almost right away. It didn't even ring for very long."

"Alfred dropped my phone." He breathed. _'Good news bro! I have discovered that your phone is a tank!'_ "You must've startled him when you called, and the battery fell out."

"That _idiota_…"

"Oh boys! What's done is done! The point is, it wouldn't have been as sweet if you'd apologized at school. Think about it Mattie! He flew spur of the moment, across the Atlantic just to see you! Even your father wasn't that romantic." Lucille shouted all of a sudden. Both jumped as if they'd forgotten that she was even there. "By the way Lovino, how do you think your mother's going to handle the whole thing? I can't say I've met a more… opinionated woman."

Lovino didn't reply at first, he just kept on grinning. Then, finally, "I'm going to end up arguing with _nonno_, which one of us gets to tell her. I'll probably let him, and just eat popcorn while I watch."

"Unbuttered popcorn?" Matthew added teasingly.

"Obviously."

"Promise you'll keep me posted Matthew dear?"

"Get a life mom, please?"

"Oh fine!" She muttered, rolling her eyes quickly. "But you two _do_ have my permission to marry."

"_Mom_!"

"Okay! I'm mute!"

Just in case, they decided to keep the rest of their conversations silent, and pulled out phones.

_-So, u think that marriage will b an option? ;P-_

_-STFU-_

_-loooove youu!-_

_-Don't say it too much. I might get used to it-_

_-I won't get used to it-_

Lovino turned back to the window, and stared at the town as it faded into countryside once they were on the highway. His face was bright red, and he didn't reply to the text until they'd dropped him off at the airport, and he'd seen them drive away.

_-Kind of Love you too-_

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

I'm going to say this here because the next author's note is getting really long as it is. But I'm (sort of) sorry about them not really getting a chance to do very many couple-y things. It's just that this was more about the journey than the destination. And I don't know about you, but I've enjoyed the ride.


	36. A Brand New Day

"You. Out. Now."

"Yeah, yeah." Matthew sighed, dropping the last of the boxes in the living room. "Are you sure you're okay to unpack by yourself though?"

"Jesus Mattie, yes! Yes I'm fine! I'm heading to college in a year, you think I can't unpack a suitcase? Have a little more faith in me! Now get the hell out before I carry you over there!"

"When did you get so supportive? I thought you didn't like Lovino."

"When dad threatened to break my X-box…"

Matthew laughed, and headed for the door. "Got it. Well don't worry, I'm sure your baby will be okay."

"Good, 'cause you're buying me a new one if it's not!"

"Sure I am."

The door snapped shut behind him as he made the new trek to the Vargas' apartment, only two doors down from their own this year.

"Is anyone home?"

"Ve! Mateo, is that you?" Feliciano came running in from his bedroom, a bright smile stretched across his face as usual. "It's so good to see you! How was your summer? Did you get to see your grandparents? Are you excited for another year? Did you know that Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert are back for a fifth year? Is Alfred coming too?"

"Great, yes, not really, yes, and no." He replied, half laughing as he did so. "Sorry, are you still busy unpacking?"

"No way! There's still loads of time before… oh! You're probably here to see _fratello_, aren't you? How silly of me!" He hurried back to the hallway. "Lovi! Lovi, guess who's here!"

"Don't tell me, it's the tooth fairy."

"Better! Come see!"

Lovino emerged from his bedroom, and his usual glare slipped when he saw the blond standing in the living room. "Hey Mateo."

"Hey. Did you have a good summer?"

"Not bad."

Feliciano took a step back towards the door, realizing that he was the third wheel here. "I'm gonna go see if Ludwig is here yet! I'll be back in an hour or so... Maybe more?"

"More is good. See you!"

The younger twin hurried out of the apartment, leaving it to fall silent as the door shut.

"So… how did it go with your mother?"

"Well, she didn't disown me, which is a surprise. But I think _Nonno_ was enjoying himself too much when she freaked out, and neither of those facts come as a shock."

"Has she calmed down any?"

"So far as I can tell, a bit. She's still not talking to me though. But that's not important right now. Do you have to go back and help your brother at all?"

"Not right now. Actually, he pretty much forced me out the door, so if I go back anytime soon, he'd just find a way to get me back here."

"Would you be offended if I said, 'good'?"

Matthew smirked, and took hold of Lovino's wrist. "I'd be offended if you didn't."

"Good then."

{}}{{}

By the time Feliciano returned to the dorm, it was almost ten o'clock, and the entire room was dark. "Lovi? Are you home?" He called, flicking the light switch. "Ludwig says hi." There was still no sign of his twin, though he did now notice that the TV in the living room was on, though muted. Puzzled, he went to turn it off, and then nearly knocked it over in surprise when he turned around.

Matthew and Lovino were both sleeping on the couch, Lovino with his arm wrapped snugly around the Canadian's waist. After the initial shock wore off, Feliciano smiled warmly, and hurried to his brother's room, returning with one of the unpacked blankets, which he draped over the pair. Lovino shifted slightly at the new weight, but didn't wake. Though he did bury his face into the blond locks in front of him.

"_Buonanotte_." Feli whispered, turning the lights back out, before heading on to bed himself.

Although he'd been eager to help out through the entire process the year before, there _had_ been a tiny; nagging doubt in the back of his mind that Lovino could ever maintain a relationship with anyone for a while. But seeing them like that… he felt so much more confident that they'd be happy.

{}}{{}

"Well I think that was pretty good for a first meeting, what do you think?" Elizaveta asked as she and Mei walked back from the clubroom.

"It was a lot more tame than the meetings we used to have."

"Yeah… I think they were a bit disappointed that we weren't starting a new mission. Who knew that those niners would've found out about what the YFA used to do… or that they'd _want_ to."

"You must be pretty infamous."

"Well if last year taught me anything, it's that I really don't need an army to play matchmaker. As long as I've got you and that stupid trio, I think we'll be fine. We'll at least draw less attention to ourselves."

"Well that definitely sounds more legal…"

"Besides! I regular, innocent yaoi fanclub is the perfect cover-business for our dastardly deeds!"

"You're going to get us disbanded again, aren't you?"

"What? Of course not! I promised Gilbert, nothing illegal, or else his grandfather could get in trouble."

"So, who's getting your attention this time?"

"Arthur Kirkland, and Tino Väinämöinen. They've been really good friends since freshman year, and I'm pretty sure they're the only people who don't realize they're totally a couple."

"Well then it shouldn't take too long then."

"Right!" Elizaveta laughed, and led the way up the stairs to the apartment, digging for her key.

"Hey Liz, there's a package here." Mei said, picking up the small box that sat on the doorstep. "It's from Kiku!"

"Gimmie!" She gasped. "He must've finished the manga of Matt and Lovi he was working on!" The Hungarian threw the door open, hurried to the kitchen to grab a knife, and tore through the tape to open the box. There were four sleek books with brightly coloured covers packed neatly inside. Two copies were in Japanese, and the other two were in English. All about the thickness of an over-stuffed fantasy novel. Elizaveta broke into a wide grin when she saw the title. "Sweet & Sour… he named it after the operation! Isn't that awesome?"

"There's a letter here too."

"Would you read it?"

"Elizaveta and Mei," she began aloud. "I hope you don't mind, but I brought the manuscript to a publishing company in the nearby city, and they said 'the story felt so unbelievable that they could somehow see it happening.' It's only one volume, but they've asked me to write more stories along the same lines, and I immediately thought of you two. I'll be working on a manga of our other operations when I have the time, and hopefully your future ones as well. These copies were the first-run print, as well as the English ones I self-published for you two. I hope you enjoy them, and I look forward to hearing from you soon."

"Isn't that sweet of him?" Elizaveta cooed. Before Mei could reply, she'd made herself comfortable in the living room, and was cracking open her volume. "We'll start plotting after this, okay?"

Mei grinned, and grabbed her own copy. "Take your time."

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

This… this is the last chapter… I might cry. Either from sadness that it's over, or joy that I finished it. It really has been an adventure with you guys. If I don't hear from you again, just know that I'll miss you, and I appreciated all your time, reviews, faves, alerts, and everything else. Every single one made me melt into a useless puddle of an egotistical little writer.

For everyone to whom I owe a one shot for a review prize or anything, they're on their way, so don't worry, you haven't been forgotten.

So… le fin and all that jazz.


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